


Forever Young 영원히 젊은

by PastelPinkCookie



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), K-pop, YG Entertainment | YG Family, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Idols, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16918410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelPinkCookie/pseuds/PastelPinkCookie
Summary: Cheon Gaeil, better known by her stage name Gale, is a member of YG’s newest girl group: BLACKPINK. This is the story of how she lives her life as an idol, and how she fell in love with the cute mochi from BTS, Park Jimin.





	1. BLACKPINK in Your Area

This is it. In a few minutes, everything that I've worked hard for will finally pay off. 

I tried to shake off my nerves as best as I can, silently wishing that my heart would stop thumping so hard against my chest.

"BLACKPINK, please go to your positions. We'll be live in five minutes." A man carrying a clipboard and wearing a headset said as he entered our dressing room. I flinched at the sudden sound. All of us- all five members- have been quiet, each lost in our own thoughts in the moment leading up to our stage debut. The other staff- our make-up artists, stylists, and managers- have already left to give us some time to ourselves.

[Kim Jisoo](https://i.imgur.com/nfg1FYu.png), the oldest member, visual, and resident mom of the group, was the first to stand up from her seat. 

“Okay, let’s do this!” She exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. 

[Kim Jennie](https://i.imgur.com/VIv6VUO.png), our main rapper and my best friend, laughed at our eonni’s gesture and stood up as well. 

“Right! We got this girls!” She beamed.

Park Chaeyoung, A.K.A. [Rosé](https://i.imgur.com/Rh5EmEs.jpg), our lead vocal, smiled nervously before she too got up.

“We’re gonna show them what we’re made of!” She encouraged, speaking in English with her adorable Australian accent.

Lalisa Manoban, A.K.A. [Lisa](https://i.imgur.com/iat9eac.jpg), our main dancer and maknae, probably moved by her eonnis' words, practically jumped out of her seat.

“BLACKPINK fighting!” She cheered.

The other four were now looking at me, each with different expressions on their faces, but all of their eyes saying the same thing.

_This is our moment._

Blinking away the tears that were starting to gather in the corners of my eyes, I ignored my shaking knees and got up.

“Let’s kill that stage!” I said as I opened my arms for a group hug. We all went in and squeezed each other as hard as we could. 

This _is_ our moment.

“Now let’s go before they come looking for us.” Jisoo-eonni reminded. We all laughed and broke apart as we headed out of the room and towards the stage.

* * *

_“Let’s go, let’s go!”_ We sang into the microphone as we got into our final poses. Jisoo-eonni and Jennie were half-kneeling, while me, Rosé, and Lisa were standing at the back. As soon as the final notes of the song faded out, we were deafened by the cheers of the crowd. All five of us were breathing heavily after dancing and singing live to two songs back-to-back. We held our poses for a few more seconds before finally taking a bow and getting off the stage.

When we reached our dressing room, all the feelings finally hit me. I was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment, and love for my members and our crew. The entire staff was telling us that we did a good job. I looked over to my right and saw that Lisa and Rosé were already crying while hugging each other and that Jennie was trying hard not to. Jisoo-eonni was patting Rosé’s head, trying to get her to calm down. I felt my eyes start to water and immediately pinched the bridge of my nose to stop the tears from falling.

“Don’t even bother, we both know you’re going to cry!” Jennie teased as she approached me, her own voice shaking.

“I’m not gonna cry, you’re gonna cry!” I retorted. She sniffed and finally she exploded.

“I’m already crying!” She laughed. With that, I also began crying. We both laughed again at how silly we were being. 

A staff member approached us and handed us some tissues. I grabbed some and began patting my tears. When we finally collected ourselves, Jennie turned to me with a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Now let’s get Jisoo-eonni to cry.” She said. I laughed as she dragged me to our eonni.

* * *

The months leading up to our debut were super hectic, but I loved every second of it. I had only been a trainee in YG Entertainment for a little under a year when I was called into Yang-sajangnim’s office. I was a hundred percent sure that he was going to tell me that they were going to drop me because that was the only reason that trainees as new as I was get called to the CEO’s office. Imagine my surprise when he told me that I was going to debut as the main vocal of BLACKPINK, which was already announced to be a four-member group only.

The company had me move from my old dorm, where I bunked with seven other girls, to a new one, which I shared with my members. In the first BLACKPINK dorm, before we moved to our current one where we each had our own rooms, there were only two rooms with two beds each, so I offered to sleep on the couch in the living room instead, but all of them objected. Eventually, we settled that I would bunk with the maknaes- Rosé and Lisa- and that we would push the beds together to fit all three of us. 

We had spent that first night getting to know each other- well, me getting to know them and vice versa. They were already dorming and taking lessons separately from the other trainees when I entered YG, so I only saw them sometimes in the cafeteria, or in the hallways.

Even though they were already close to each other, they never made me feel out of place or left out. Sure, we had some rough patches and disagreements, but eventually, we resolved them. Now, I can’t imagine my life without these girls. They’re more than just my members, they’re my sisters. 

I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

* * *

Eonni - 언니 - What a younger girl would call an older girl.

Sajangnim - 사장님 - Boss

Maknae - 막내 - The youngest in the group


	2. Line Distribution (Whistle & Boombayah)

**WHISTLE**

_JISOO_  
Hey boy

 _LISA_  
Make’ em whistle like  
a missile bomb, bomb  
Every time I show up, blow up uh

 _JENNIE_  
Make’ em whistle like  
a missile bomb, bomb  
Every time I show up, blow up uh

 _GALE_  
neon neomu areumdawo  
neol ijeul suga eobseo  
geu nunbichi ajik nareul  
ireohge seollege hae Boom boom

 _ROSÉ_  
24, 365  
ojik neowa gachi hagopa  
najedo i bamedo  
ireohge neoreul wonhae Ooh ooh

 _JENNIE_  
modeun namjadeuli nal maeil Check out  
daebubuni nal gajil su itda chakgak  
jeoldae manheun geol wonchi  
anha mameul wonhae nan  
neon simjangeul doryeonae boyeobwa  
aju ssikssikhage ttaeron Chic chic hage  
So hot so hot naega  
eojjeol jul moreuge hae  
najimaki bulleojwo  
nae gwitgae doneun hwiparamcheoreom

 _GALE_  
idaero jinachiji mayo  
neodo nacheoreom nal  
ijeul suga eobtdamyeon Whoa

 _JISOO_  
neol hyanghan i maeumeun Fire  
nae simjangi ppareuge ttwijanha  
jeomjeom gakkai deullijanha

hwiparam

 _JENNIE_  
Uh hwi param param param  
(Can you hear that)

 _LISA_  
hwi parapara para bam

 _JISOO_  
hwiparam

 _JENNIE_  
Uh hwi param param param  
(Can you hear that)

 _LISA_  
hwi parapara para bam

 _JENNIE_  
Hold up

 _ROSÉ_  
amu mal haji ma  
Just whistle to my heart  
geu soriga jigeum nareul  
ireohge seollege hae Boom boom

 _JISOO_  
saenggakeun jiruhae  
neukkimi Shh  
Every day all day  
nae gyeoteman isseojwo Zoom zoom

 _LISA_  
Uh eonjena nan Stylin’  
dodohajiman ne apeseon Darlin’  
tteugeowojijanha Like a desert island  
neo alagalsurok ullyeodaeneun maeumsok  
geuman naeppae neomeowara  
naege Boy ijen Checkmate  
geimeun naega Win (Uh-huh)  
nan neol taekhae anajwo deo  
sege nuga neol garo  
chae gagi jeone naega (Uh)

 _ROSÉ_  
idaero jinachiji mayo  
neodo nacheoreom nal  
ijeul suga eobtdamyeon Whoa

 _GALE_  
neol hyanghan i maeumeun Fire  
nae simjangi ppareuge ttwijanha  
jeomjeom gakkai deullijanha

 _ROSÉ_  
hwiparam

 _JENNIE_  
Uh hwi param param param  
(Can you hear that)

 _LISA_  
hwi parapara para bam

 _ROSÉ_  
hwiparam

 _JENNIE_  
Uh hwi param param param  
(Can you hear that)

 _LISA_  
hwi parapara para bam

 _ROSÉ_  
This beat got me feelin’ like

 _JISOO_  
baramcheoreom seuchyeoganeun  
heunhan inyeoni anigil

 _ROSÉ_  
manheun maleun pilyo eobseo

 _GALE_  
jigeum neoui gyeote  
nareul deryeoga jwo Ooh

 _JENNIE_  
Make’ em whistle like  
A missile bomb, bomb  
Every time I show up, blow up uh

 _LISA_  
Make’ em whistle like  
A missile bomb, bomb  
Every time I show up, blow up uh

* * *

**BOOMBAYAH**

_JENNIE_  
BLACKPINK in your area  
BLACKPINK in your area

 _LISA_  
Been a bad girl, I know I am  
And I’m so hot, I need a fan  
I don’t want a boy, I need a man

 _JENNIE_  
Click-clack  
Badda bing badda boom  
muneul bakchamyeon modu nal barabom  
gudi aesseo noryeok an haedo  
modeun namjadeuleun kopiga pangpangpang  
pangpang parapara pangpangpang  
jigeum nal wihan chukbaereul jjanjjanjjan  
Hands up nae sonen  
Bottle full o’ henny  
nega malloman deuddeon gyaega naya Jennie

 _JISOO_  
chumchuneun bulbicheun nal gamssago done  
Black to the pink  
eodiseodeun teukbyeolhae Oh yes

 _ROSÉ_  
chyeoda bodeun maldeun I wanna dance  
Like ttaradaradanttan  
ttaradaradanttan ttudurubbau

 _GALE_  
joha i bunwigiga joha

 _JISOO_  
joha nan jigeum nega joha

 _GALE_  
jeongmal banhaesseo oneul bam  
neowa chumchugo sipeo

 _EVERYONE_  
BOOMBAYAH  
YAH YAH YAH BOOMBAYAH  
YAH YAH YAH BOOMBAYAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH  
BOOM BOOM BA BOOM  
BOOM BA oppa  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH oppa  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH BOOM BOOM BA  
BOOMBAYAH

 _ROSÉ_  
BLACKPINK in your area

 _LISA_  
ije dallyeoyaji mwol eotteokhae  
nan cheol eobseo geob eobseo Man  
Middle finger up, F U pay me  
90s baby, I pump up the jam  
dallyeobwa dallyeobwa oppaya LAMBO  
oneuleun neowa na jeolmeumeul GAMBLE  
gamhi nal makjima hoksina nuga nal makado  
I’m gonna go brrrr RAMBO

 _JISOO_  
ne soni nae heorireul gamssago done  
Front to my back  
nae mommaeneun teukbyeolhae Oh yes

 _GALE_  
ne nunbicheun I know you wanna touch  
Like touch touch touch  
Touch ttudurubbau

 _ROSÉ_  
joha i bunwigiga joha

 _GALE_  
joha nan jigeum nega joha

 _ROSÉ_  
jeongmal meosisseo oneul bam  
neowa chumchugo sipeo

 _EVERYONE_  
BOOMBAYAH  
YAH YAH YAH BOOMBAYAH  
YAH YAH YAH BOOMBAYAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH  
BOOM BOOM BA  
BOOM BOOM BA oppa  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH oppa  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH  
YAH YAH BOOM BOOM BA  
BOOMBAYAH

oneuleun maen jeongsin ttawin beorigo  
haneuleul neomeoseo olla gal geoya  
kkeuteul moreuge ppalli dalligo sipeo  
Let’s go, let’s go

oneuleun maen jeongsin ttawin beorigo  
haneuleul neomeoseo olla gal geoya  
kkeuteul moreuge ppalli dalligo sipeo  
Let’s go, let’s go


	3. (VLive) Gale and Lisa Q&A

_6:13 PM_

_Gale and Lisa Q &A has just started!_

_Two girls were sitting in front of the camera. One, a blonde with full bangs, wearing a white t-shirt. To her left, a girl wearing bucket hat with only her bangs falling out, and a grey oversized sweatshirt. The two seemed to be sitting on a living room sofa._

“Annyeong haseyo!” the blonde, Lisa, greeted in her anime voice while waving at her phone’s camera. 

“What’s up everyone?” the one with the black hair, Gale, said in English for their international fans who were watching. Comments were already pouring in rapidly that they could barely keep up.

“Today, Lisa and I thought that we could answer some of your questions. It’s been two months since our debut and we would like for you guys to get to know us better.” Gale explained.

“Yes! Ask us anything! I’ll start.” Lisa said, making her eonni look at her curiously. “Eonni, what did you eat for breakfast today?”

“I ate two eggs and some fruit and yogurt, how about you Lisa?”

“I ate a lot of cereal this morning.” She happily announced. Gale giggled at the maknae’s actions.

“Let’s begin,” She said as she began reading one of the comments, _“Please tell us how the other smells like.”_

Suddenly, Lisa pressed her nose to Gale’s shoulder and took a huge whiff.

“Eonni smells like vanilla and bananas.” She told the camera. “So yummy!”

She then angled her shoulder so that it was nearer to Gale’s nose and looked at her eonni expectantly. Gale just lightly patted her shoulder and wrinkled her nose.

“Uh, no thanks.” She refused, making Lisa pout. “Lisa smells like cucumber and melon- light and summery. Okay, you read the next one.”

 _“If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?”_ Lisa read from her phone.

“Um, I want to go to Thailand! I haven’t seen my family in a while.” She answered, her voice wavering a bit. Gale patted her back, knowing how much the maknae misses her parents and her sister. Lisa gave her a small smile.

“Me? I want to go to New York. I haven’t been there ever since I graduated high school. I miss the streets and the lights.” Gale said. Lisa gave her sad look, noticing that she didn’t mention her family or any friends.

“Next!” She exclaimed.

 _“What languages can you speak?”_ Gale read. “Well, English is my first language, and obviously I speak Korean. I also studied French when I was younger, and during our trainee days we were taught how to speak in Japanese and Chinese, although I’m not really good at those, but I will keep trying for BLINKs!”

“I speak Thai, Korean, English and Japanese! Eonni tried to teach me French but it didn’t go so well.” Lisa giggled, making Gale laugh as well. The two remembered what happened a while ago when Lisa asked her eonni to teach her how to speak in French after hearing her sing “La Vie en Rose” by Edith Piaf. Gale taught her the basics, and she was so excited to try it out that when they went to eat at a French restaurant for Rosé’s birthday, she accidentally called the waiter a dehydrated cabbage. Gale had no idea how that was even possible. Lisa was so embarrassed that she never asked for another lesson again.

“Moving on,” Lisa started. “ _When’s your next comeback? We want more BLACKPINK!_ Eonni do you want to answer this one?” She finished as she turned to the raven-haired girl.

“Sure! Well, we’ve already filmed the music video and everything. We can’t tell you the exact date, but it’s gonna be real soon! Keep an eye out.” Gale said as she winked at the camera.

“Yup! You guys are going to like this comeback! We worked really hard on it and it’s really good! Please give it lots of love!” Lisa told their viewers as she made a heart with her hands. “Oh! And you’re gonna love eonni’s new hair! She’s always been wearing hats lately to keep it a surprise.” 

“Okay, next one,” Gale continued. _“Who’s the main dancer of BLACKPINK? Lisa or Gale?”_

“Me!” Lisa chirped. “I’m the main dancer, but eonni is good too! It’s just that our styles are different.”

“As you guys know, Lisa slays street, hip-hop, and is awesome at free-styling. I prefer ballet and contemporary, but those styles aren’t really used in our choreography- and besides, I suck without choreography.” Gale explained. Lisa gasped in disagreement.

“You don’t suck eonni! You just like having steps to follow!” She cheered as she gave her eonni a side hug.

“Aww, thank you Lisa.” Gale chuckled. “Okay, enough of this sappiness. Read the next one please.”

 _“How old are you guys? I keep finding different answers online.”_ Lisa read. 

“Jisoo-eonni is a ‘95-liner,” Gale began, “Jennie and I are ’96-liners-”

“-and Rosé and I are ’97-liners!” Lisa finished.

Gale was about to start reading the next question when suddenly both girls heard the sound of keys jiggling and the door opening.

“We’re back!” Jisoo announced as they entered the dorm.

“And we have the food.” added Rosé.

“We’re in the living room.” Gale called. “We’re doing a VLive. Say hi to BLINKs!” She said as she turned the camera and showed the other members to the viewers. They waved a small hello before heading to the kitchen. Gale put the camera back in its place.

“Sorry guys, but we’re gonna have to cut this broadcast short. Let’s do one last question.” The black-haired girl said as she tried to read from the continuous flow of comments. “Oh, here we go- _Do you like BTS? If yes, who would you like to collab with?”_ Immediately after reading the question, a huge smile appeared on her face.

“Are you kidding? Eonni loves BTS! She learned the choreography for their new song “Blood Sweat & Tears” three hours after the dance practice video was released.” Lisa said, exposing her eonni whose face was now turning very red.

“Okay Lisa, that’s enough.” Gale nervously laughed, “We don’t want them to think I’m some obsessed sasaeng fan.”

“But you are!” Lisa continued to tease.

“Yah! I’m not I swear!” Gale defended, “I just really like their music and their choreography.”

“I was just joking. Eonni is just a big fan. All five of us actually really look up to our sunbaenims. They’re very talented and we hope that someday we can also affect people’s lives with our music like they do.” Lisa explained.

“Yup! Someday we’re going to drop our own “Cypher”!” Gale joked.

“Excuse me eonni, you’re not a part of the rap line.” Lisa objected.

“Or am I?” Gale questioned while striking a “cool” pose.

“Listening to eonni rap is like listening to a minion from _Despicable Me_  talk real fast. Adorable, but no swag whatsoever.” Lisa teased, “And to answer your question, I would like to collaborate with J-Hope-sunbaenim. I think that a hip-hop song with a sick choreography with him would be nice.”

“Well,” Gale started, finally having her face return to its original color, “this is a hard one. I love all of their voices equally, and they all have unique qualities as artists. But I would love to have the opportunity to do a song with Suga-sunbaenim. I think that our styles would complement each other well. I would also enjoy dancing with Jimin-sunbaenim since our styles are very similar.”

“Well, that’s all the time we have for now. We’ll see you guys again real soon! Bye!” Lisa said. Both girls ended their broadcast by waving at the camera and blowing kisses.

_Gale and Lisa Q &A has just ended._

* * *

Annyeong haseyo - 안녕하세요 - Hello

Sasaeng fan - 사생팬 - A stalker/obsessed fan

Sunbaenim - 선배님 - Someone who is a senior to you in a specific field (Ex. BTS have been idols longer than BLACKPINK so they are sunbaenims to BLACKPINK.)


	4. (BTS Cam) Watching the VLive

Kim Taehyung was just about to take a shower when he got a notification on his phone.

_Gale and Lisa Q &A has just started!_

He immediately ran to the living room, completely forgetting the fact that he had no pants on.

“WAAAH! They’re doing a Q&A!” He shouted with excitement. He jumped on the couch, where a very confused, but highly amused Park Jimin sat next to an annoyed Jeon Jungkook, who had been playing Piano Tiles on his phone for the past thirty minutes, trying to beat his high score, but got a game over when his hyung made him lose his concentration by screaming like a madman.

“Who’s doing a Q&A?” Jimin asked. Taehyung hurriedly synched his phone to the TV. Suddenly, two girls appeared on the screen. On the right was BLACKPINK’s main dancer and lead rapper, Lisa. Next to her was BLACKPINK’s main vocal and lead dancer, Gale.

All three of the maknae line’s hearts jumped at the sight of their bias on screen. Yes, they were BLACKPINK fans. Not just them though, their hyungs also. They thought that the music that the rookie group has put out was very different from other girl groups in the industry, and they also liked the fact that despite being badasses on stage, off stage, the girls were total sweethearts.

They weren’t ashamed to admit that they stan a girl group. They wouldn’t, however, tell each other who their bias was. That’s why they didn’t know that the three of them watching the live broadcast were smitten with the same girl.

“Hey guys what are you-”

“Shhh!” The maknae line shushed. Min Yoongi, about to scold his dongsaengs for being disrespectful, immediately stopped when he saw what they were watching and joined the other three.

 _“-smells like vanilla and bananas.”_ The blonde told the camera. Taehyung clutched his heart and leaned back, as if having a heart attack.

“Do you hear that? Gale smells like vanilla and bananas! That smells so good.” He cooed. 

When it was Gale’s turn to smell her dongsaeng, she patted the shoulder she was offered, wrinkled her nose, and refused.

Yoongi laughed at the girl’s actions.

“I like her.” He complimented. “She’s savage.”

Although he knew that his hyung meant it in a completely different way. Jungkook couldn’t help but glare towards the rapper, only to blush red at his actions and look away in embarrassment. He had no right to be overprotective, right?

Jimin, however, was too busy watching the girl- from the way she plays with the hem of her sweatshirt, to how she licks her lips every now and then. How can a girl be so cute? It should be illegal to be that adorable. She’s gonna be giving men across South Korea heart attacks with her actions- and that’s not even her aegyo!

 _“If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?”_ Lisa continued. _“Um, I want to go to Thailand! I haven’t seen my family in a while.”_

“Who’s going to Thailand?” Hoseok asked as he entered the room. “Oh goodie! A BLACKPINK VLive!” He cheered as he made himself comfortable on the carpeted floor.

 _“Me? I want to go to New York. I haven’t been there ever since I graduated high school. I miss the streets and the lights.”_ Gale answered.

“She’s American?” Yoongi asked, confused. They were fans of BLACKPINK, but they didn’t really know that much about them. Aside from the fact that they just debuted two months ago, they haven’t had any variety show appearances yet.

“Yeah. I read somewhere that she moved to Korea right after her high school graduation.” Kim Namjoon responded from the doorway. They were too busy watching the VLive that they didn’t notice the front door had opened. Namjoon entered the dorm, carrying groceries, with Kim Seokjin following closely behind. They left the bags on the kitchen counter before joining the rest of the group in the living room.

 _“What languages can you speak?”_ Gale read. _“Well, English is my first language, and obviously I speak Korean. I also studied French when I was younger, and during our trainee days we were taught how to speak in Japanese and Chinese, although I’m not really good at those, but I will keep trying for BLINKS!”_

“Wow.” Jimin commented. And here he was, barely able to form a sentence in English without being filled with frustration and embarrassment. This girl really was something else.

 _“I speak Thai, Korean, English and Japanese! Eonni tried to teach me French but it didn’t go so well.”_ Lisa said, making both her and her eonni laugh.

 _“Moving on,”_ She continued. _“When’s your next comeback? We want more BLACKPINK! Eonni do you want to answer this one?”_

 _“Sure! Well, we’ve already filmed the music video and everything. We can’t tell you the exact date, but it’s gonna be real soon! Keep an eye out.”_ Gale said as she winked at the camera.

That’s heart attack number two for Taehyung. 

Hoseok was about to tease their maknae but decided against it. Jungkook’s face was already red enough. He didn’t want to be the one to clean-up if Jungkook’s head exploded.

“She’s so beautiful.” Jimin cooed.

 _“Yup! You guys are going to like this comeback! We worked really hard on it and it’s really good! Please give it lots of love!”_ Lisa said as she made a heart with her hands. _“Oh! And you’re gonna love eonni’s new hair! She’s always been wearing hats lately to keep it a surprise.”_

This made sense to Jimin. Lately during their VLives, Gale’s hair was always hidden. During their debut, she had wavy, shoulder-length, black hair, but from what he could see, her hair was still black. What changes could they have made? 

The pair continued answering different questions, until from the background, someone announced that they were back. 

 _“We’re in the living room.”_ Gale called. _“We’re doing a VLive. Say hi to BLINKs!”_ She said as she turned the camera. The other three members of BLACKPINK said a quick hello before heading towards the kitchen.

 _“Sorry guys, but we’re gonna have to cut this broadcast short. Let’s do one last question.”_ Gale said, making the boygroup sigh in disappointment. Suddenly, Hoseok jumped from his place.

“Tae, give me your phone!” He ordered.

“What? Why?” Taehyung questioned.

“Let’s ask them a question!” Hoseok answered.

“Well, here you go hyung.” Taehyung said as he tossed his phone to his hyung, who easily caught it and began typing furiously. “But I doubt that they’ll be able to see it. There are a lot of people commenting.”

"...and enter!" Hoseok announced.

“What did you ask?” Namjoon inquired.

_“Oh, here we go- Do you like BTS? If yes, who would you like to collab with?”_

“THAT’S MY QUESTION! THAT’S MY QUESTION! OH MY GAHD MY HEARTEU IS OH MY GAHD THEY NOTICED ME!” Hoseok screamed as he jumped with joy.

“Yeah, yeah now quiet down so we can hear the answer.” Yoongi ordered.

Every single member was anxious to hear the answer of their fellow idols. They wouldn’t know what they’d do if the members of one of their favorite groups said that they didn’t like their music. Even the hyungs, who had different biases, wanted them to at least say that they enjoyed their music.

Their worries, however, were thrown out the window when a big smile appeared on Gale’s face.

 _“Are you kidding? Eonni loves BTS! She learned the choreography for their new song “Blood Sweat & Tears” three hours after the dance practice video was released.” _Lisa told the viewers. Gale’s face started turning red.

“She likes us!” Taehyung cheered. The other members couldn’t help but smile also. 

"How is that even possible?" Jin muttered to Namjoon. "It took the two of us a week to perfect the choreography."

 _“Okay Lisa, that’s enough.”_ Gale nervously laughed _, “We don’t want them to think I’m some obsessed sasaeng fan.”_

“I wouldn’t mind if she was a sasaeng fan.” Taehyung whispered to Jimin. Jimin of course admires the girl, but to have her be obsessed with them? Isn’t that a bit much?

Then why wasn't he bothered by the thought?

The blonde maknae kept on teasing her eonni until she finally had mercy.

 _“I was just joking. Eonni is just a big fan. All five of us actually really look up to our sunbaenims. They’re very talented and we hope that someday we can also affect people’s lives with our music like they do.”_ She explained _._

 _“Yup! Someday we’re going to drop our own “Cypher”!”_ Gale joked, which made the BTS rap line chuckle. They can’t imagine how a cute girl like Gale could possibly pull off “Cypher _"._

But then again, she turned into a different person whenever she was on stage.

 _“Listening to eonni rap is like listening to a minion from Despicable Me talk real fast. Adorable, but no swag whatsoever.”_ Lisa teased, _“And to answer the question, I would like to collaborate with J-Hope-sunbaenim. I think that a hip-hop song with a sick choreography with him would be nice.”_

“She said my name!” Hoseok exclaimed. By now Jin was definitely sure that he was deaf. He knew he should’ve sat next to Jungkook instead.

The maknae line was eagerly waiting for their bias’ answer.

 _“Well,”_ Gale answered, _“this is a hard one. I love all of their voices equally, and they all have unique qualities as artists. But I would love to have the opportunity to do a song with Suga-sunbaenim. I think that our styles would complement each other well."_

Yoongi definitely didn’t expect her to say his name- not that he minded. He would definitely enjoy working with her. Her powerful vocals would indeed complement his rap style.

 _“I would also enjoy dancing with Jimin-sunbaenim since our styles are very similar.”_ She finished.

This made Jimin’s heart rise to his throat. Dancing with Gale would certainly be a dream come true. Just the thought of being so close to her made him blush intensely.

 _“Well, that’s all the time we have for now. We’ll see you guys again real soon! Bye!”_ Both girls waved and blew kisses to the camera.

_Gale and Lisa Q &A has just ended._

The TV screen turned black as Taehyung disconnected his phone.

All the members were still lost in their own thoughts when Jin broke the silence.

“Taehyung-ah? Where are your pants?"

* * *

Hyung - 형 - What a younger boy would call an older boy

Dongsaeng - 동생 - Younger boy/girl


	5. #sugalecollab

“Okay everyone, let’s take a quick break.” Our choreographer said. We’ve been practicing for the past two hours for our comeback stage. We have two new songs again, but this time, we only have one new choreography, since one of our songs is an acoustic one. We already knew the steps, since the dance practice video was already released, but singing while dancing is hard work, and right now we’re trying to get through the entire song without running out of breath or looking like we’re dying.

“Whew that was hard.” Rosé said to me in English as she lied down on the floor. When it was just us two, we spoke to each other in English. I knew that I should be speaking Korean every chance I get since I’ve only been here a little over a year, and my Korean wasn’t the best yet, but it kept me from missing New York too much.

“I know.” I replied, lying down as well. Jisoo-eonni approached us and looked down on our half-dead-from-exhaustion forms.

“I’m going to the cafeteria to get some food. You guys want anything?” She asked.

“Water juseyo.” Rosé requested. “I already ran out.”

“Me too.” I added as I closed my eyes. Maybe I could get at least five minutes of sleep. 

“Two bottles of water, coming right up!” Jisoo-eonni said. I heard footsteps going away from us so I assumed that she already left.

I wasn't even fully asleep yet when I felt someone poke my cheek.

“Gale-ah~” a voice said.

“Please go away.” I murmured.

“Galie~” it said again.

“Jebal, just five more minutes.” I begged.

“Fine. I guess you don’t want to hear this interesting piece of BTS news.” 

“What? Where? Who?” I asked as I bolted upright. I opened my eyes to see Jennie’s smiling face.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you have a crush on one…or two…or three…or all of those boys, Galie.” She teased. I felt a light blush cover my cheeks. I sat up properly and stretched my legs.

“Of course not. I just really admire them.” I defended. To my right, I see Rosé and Lisa sleeping next to each other on the floor. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and took a picture of the two cuties.

“Whatever you say~” Jennie replied.

“And they’re not boys. They’re men.” I continued. “Well, except Jungkook. He’s a fetus.”

“Now what was it that was so important that you had to wake me up?” I asked as I let out a yawn and rested my head on her shoulder. Jennie tapped something on her phone’s screen and handed it to me.

“That has been trending since last night.” She said.

BLACKPINK’s social media were flooded with different comments and posts, all tagged with the same hashtag.

#sugalecollab

My eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. My mind then flashed back to last night when I mentioned in a VLive that I wanted to do a collab with Suga from BTS. It was a joke! I mean, of course I want to do a collab with him, but I didn’t think that anyone would actually take notice of what I said.

“And it’s not just our social media. Even Bangtan’s Twitter and Instagram are flooded.” Jennie added.

“Oh no.” I managed to say. What the heck have I done?

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Who knows, maybe we'll get to meet BTS because of this.” Jennie said, trying to cheer me up. I just gave her a small smile.

As a rookie group, our image as idols was still very fragile. One wrong move could destroy our entire career, and I knew how sensitive fans can get, especially fangirls. They don’t want other girls linked with their oppas, and even though there was nothing romantic at all with what I had said last night, netizens can be ruthless.

I just hope that BLACKPINK’s comeback doesn’t suffer because of this.

And I also hope that Yang-sajangnim doesn’t find out about this.

Who am I kidding? He probably already knows and is talking with a lawyer to find out how to terminate my contract.

I’m dead.

“What’s wrong with her?” I heard Jisoo-eonni ask Jennie, snapping me out of my trance.

“Nothing, I was just thinking of what I’m going to do with my life after Yang-sajangnim removes me from BLACKPINK.” I replied. She rolled her eyes as she handed me a water bottle.

“You’re being too dramatic.” She told me. “No one’s removing anyone from anything. I bet he’s having a laugh about this as we speak.”

“And besides, if he makes you leave then I’ll leave too!” Jennie comforted. I gave my best friend a hug.

“Thanks.” I said.

I had just pulled away when our choreographer entered the room.

“Let’s get back to work girls!” She said. Jisoo-eonni had gone to wake up the maknaes from their nap, while Jennie helped me to stand up.

“Oh, and Gale-ah?” She called, my heart dropping to my stomach at the words that came out of her mouth.

“Yang-sajangnim wants to see you at his office after rehearsals.”

_Uh-oh._

* * *

  
“Enter.” A voice said from the other side of the door. I slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

“Oh Gale-ah, please sit down.” Yang-sajangnim said as he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. In the year and few months that I’ve known him, Yang Hyunsuk has been a father figure to me. Even though he was my boss, he always made me and the other trainees feel like we were his own children. He was always there to give us support whenever we felt homesick or discouraged, or compliment us whenever we did a good job.

But as I sat down on the chair, I felt like he was more of the grim reaper, about to tell me that my dreams are dead and that he was going to take me to the afterlife.

“Tell me,” he began, “have you checked any of BLACKPINK’s social media lately?”

At this point, I lost my self-control and burst out crying.

“I’m so sorry Yang-sajangnim! Please don’t remove me from BLACKPINK! I promise it won’t happen again, ever!” I pleaded. Yang-sajangnim looked at me for a moment before roaring with laughter.

“What are you talking about Gale?” He asked in between laughs. I managed to stop my self from sobbing, but tears kept flowing from my eyes. Maybe it was because I looked so pathetic, but Yang-sajangnim’s eyes softened as he handed me a box of tissues from his desk drawer.

“You know, sometimes I forget how new you are to this industry compared to the other girls in your group. You’re so talented and well loved in the company that in my mind, you’ve been here forever.” He told me. 

“I’m sorry sir, I don’t understand.” I managed to say after I had calmed down. Why was he telling me this?

“I keep forgetting that you have not been through training as long as the others have been and that you don’t know how to handle these situations as well as they might. You think I’m mad at you because of this, don’t you?” He asked me. I nodded meekly.

“And I bet the other girls have told you not to worry about it, right?”

I nodded again.

“And you walked in here with the thought that I was about to remove you from the group, didn’t you?”

I nodded again, feeling like a complete idiot.

“Gale-ah, look at me,” he ordered. I shifted my gaze from my hands on my lap to the man who had helped me make my dreams come true, “you girls are like daughters to me, and I wouldn’t throw away everything you’ve worked hard for because of a little controversy. You’re going to have a long career, and this will not be the only bump you encounter, but always remember that we’re here for you, me and your members, okay?”

The pep talk he gave me caused my tear ducts to overwork themselves again, but this time, with happiness. If someone who has known me for less than two years can support and believe in me unconditionally, why couldn't my own parents?

“And actually, this might be a good opportunity for both BTS and BLACKPINK, seeing as both groups have been topping the charts lately.” Yang-sajangnim said, “So, do you want to do the collab or not?”

I nearly fell off my chair.

“You’re a YG artist! We let you explore, branch out, experiment, and find your own sound.” He explained, probably noticing my shock. “Of course, we still have to make arrangements with BigHit Entertainment, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll say yes. Oh, and you can’t let this interfere with BLACKPINK’s promotions especially since your comeback is so close and-”

“Thank you, thank you so much!” I exclaimed, jumping off my chair and going around the desk to hug our CEO. He patted my back and ruffled my hair.

“So, that’s a yes then?” He asked jokingly.

* * *

Juseyo - 주세요 - give, but usually used as please

Jebal - 제발 - please (only used for pleading, not to be used lightly)


	6. Meeting BTS

“And the number one song of the week is… _Blood Sweat & Tears_ by Bangtan Sonyeondan!” The MC announced. The cameras focused on the seven boys in front of the stage as they hugged each other and gave a thank you speech.

Standing at the _Inkigayo_ stage with BTS is a dream come true. Well yeah, they were at the front while my group and I were kind of in the back, but at least we’re breathing the same air.

Okay, that was kind of creepy.

I’m a fangirl, sue me.

We had just performed our comeback stage for “Playing With Fire”, our new song, so we weren’t included in the running for “Song of the Week” yet, but I have a good feeling about this song. I’m hoping that next week we’ll be standing in front of the stage again to receive an award!

The intro to “Blood Sweat & Tears” started playing again, signaling the end of the show. We began bowing and thanking and congratulating our fellow idols who were on the stage with us as we started walking off the stage to let BTS have their moment.

“Gale-eonni,” Rosé called. “They’re staring.”

“Huh? Who?” I asked, looking back to see what she meant.

While the hyung line was busy waving to their fans while singing their parts, the maknae line was doing something else.

Jeon Jungkook was trying to be inconspicuous, stealing glances every now and then, then quickly looking away, while Kim Taehyung was outright staring, but I could only focus on one thing.

Park Jimin was looking at me, but it felt different. It was like he was staring through my eyes and right into my soul.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my trance.

“Gale-ah, come on!” Jisoo-eonni said as she guided me towards the backstage.

* * *

“We’ll be leaving in about thirty minutes so get ready girls. We're just waiting for the audience members to leave so you won't be mobbed when we go out." Our manager told us. I stood up from my seat and headed towards the dressing room door.

“I’ll just go to the bathroom real quick.” I said as I walked out the room. I wandered the hallways for a while before finally finding the bathroom, which was on the other side of the building. After doing my business, I walked out and was about to head back to the dressing room when I was stopped by two girls who were about my age. One was tall with short brown hair, while the other was a bit plump with long black hair. The bright yellow wristbands they were wearing told me that they were audience members with special backstage passes.

“Wow! You’re Gale from BLACKPINK, aren’t you?” The brunette asked me. I gave the both of them a big smile. I always loved meeting BLINKs.

“Yup, that’s me!” I replied. The shorter one was turning red and started hyperventilating.

“I c-can’t believe I’m m-meeting you,” she stuttered. “You’re m-my ultimate bias! Can I-I please take a picture with y-you?”

Oh my gosh, I’m someone’s ultimate bias. 

“Of course! And no need to be shy around me.” I said. I ended up taking a couple of pictures with the two of them- some regular ones, some wacky selfies. 

“I have to go now, but it was nice meeting you.” I told them. The taller girl, whose name was Eunji, immediately spoke up.

“We’ll walk with you!” She squeaked.

“Um, okay.” I said. The exit was in the same direction so it would make sense that they head the same way.

While we were walking, they kept asking me questions. It started out with cute innocent ones like what my favorite color was, and what animal I would like to have as a pet. But as time went on, I guess they got more comfortable around me and got more personal, to the point where they made me very uncomfortable. They even had the nerve to bash my members, telling me that I was so much more talented than them and that I should leave the group and go solo because they were just holding me back, which made me furious, but I knew that I had to hide it, so I tried my best to explain to them without losing my cool that everyone in BLACKPINK is special and equally talented, but they still weren’t stopping. Maybe they thought that they were complimenting me, but the way they talked about my members hurt me as deeply as it would’ve if they bashed me instead.

As soon as I saw a door at the end of the hallway, I knew that this was my chance to escape.

“I agree Eunji, Gale-eonni is way prettier and-”

“This is my stop.” I interrupted Boyoung, the shorter girl, as I twisted the doorknob. “Goodbye.” 

They were about to say something else, but I quickly opened the door, entered the room and shut it behind me. I rested my forehead against the door, closed my eyes, and exhaled slowly, trying to get rid of the anger from my system.

“Excuse me, can we help you?” A male voice said from behind me. I immediately turned around a got into a deep bow.

“Joesonghamnida. I didn’t know that there was someone in the room.” I apologized. When I finally got up from my bow, I saw seven shocked faces staring back at me.

Seven handsome, shocked faces.

“Y-you’re BTS!” I squeaked as I jumped and clapped my hands together.

“I’m Cheon Gaeil from BLACKPINK! I’m such a big fan!” I gushed. Wow, I was so close to my idols. They were all so ethereally beautiful. The hyungs, who were standing near the mirror were smiling at me, the ’95 liners, who were sitting on the couch, were grinning from ear to ear, while Jeon Jungkook, who was on the floor, was playing with the carpet.

“We know who you are.” Kim Namjoon said. “We’re also big fans of your group.”

Lord I can die happy now.

“Jinjjayo?! That means a lot sunbaenim! Thank you!” I said as I bowed again.

“She’s so cute!” Jung Hoseok chuckled. I made two finger hearts, playing along with him, which made him and the others laugh. I saw Kim Taehyung clutch his chest out of the corner of my eye.

“No need to call me sunbaenim. Call me Namjoon-oppa.” Their leader said. The rest of the members followed, introducing themselves the way they want me to call them.

“Jin-oppa.” The pink-haired, broad-shouldered vocal said as he blew me a flying kiss. I pretended to catch it, but then I put it in my pocket. The members looked at me with confusion.

“I’m saving it for my eonni,” I explained. “You’re her bias.”

Jin-oppa laughed and blew me another kiss. “That one’s for you.” He said. This time I pretended to catch it with my right hand and patted my cheek. 

“...Yoongi-oppa.” The black-haired rapper said nonchalantly, although I can see in his eyes that he was very amused. I wonder if he already knew about #sugalecollab. Better not bring it up.

“Hoseok-oppa!” The hyperactive rapper exclaimed, making the ones near him flinch. I smiled at his energy. I can practically feel the warmth radiating from him.

I then turned my gaze to the ash-grey haired dancer, who also happens to be my bias. Our eyes met, and once again I felt like I was being sucked in. It was like we were the only two people in the world.

“Ji-Ji...” He tried to say. I waited for the rest, but nothing else came out of his mouth.

“Um, Jiji?” I repeated. He shook his head, as if snapping out of a daze, and cleared his throat as he looked away.

“Jimin-oppa.” He clarified. I nodded, ignoring the heat rising up to my cheeks. I didn’t know why I was reacting like this. Everyone else asked me to call them oppa. Why was I only blushing now?  

“Tae-oppa, or jagi, your choice.” The ’95-liner with a voice like velvet joked. Once again, I decided to play along.

“Okay, jagiya~” I cooed. Tae-oppa began coughing and pounding his chest, like he was choking on something. Jimin-oppa rubbed his back, which I found really cute. 

I then turned to the youngest member of the Bulletproof Boyscouts, who was still not looking at me.

“Jungkook-oppa.” He mumbled quickly. His eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth, realizing his mistake. Hoseok-oppa guffawed at him, while Tae-oppa stuffed his fist into his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

“She’s older than you, Kookie.” Namjoon-oppa reminded him. By now Jungkook’s face was as red as a tomato, while his expression looked like he was computing a differential equation in his brain- confused, frustrated, and a little bit constipated.

“Oh, um… JEON JUNGKOOK!” He blurted. This time his hyungs burst out laughing. I was starting to feel bad for him. He looked like a little bunny.

“You want me to call you by your full name?” I asked.

“Jeon Jungkook…is my name.” He said slowly, like he was uncertain. At this point I was unsure of where our conversation was heading. He looked at the eldest member for help.

“Yes Kookie, I think you’ve already established that.” Jin-oppa told his dongsaeng.

“Can I call you Kookie too?” I offered. He nodded, finally looking up to meet my eyes, only to quickly look back down again.

“You’re adorable!” I smiled at him. On stage, he might be Mr. International Playboy, but he was really just a big ball of fluff.

“Are guys sure you want me to call you by your real names?” I asked, and they all responded with a nod. I felt so happy. I was on first name bases with my favorite idols!

“Well in that case, you guys can just call me, you know, by my name.” I chuckled. “Except Kookie,” I said as I turned my attention to the maknae, who looked shocked that I singled him out.

“Call me noona, okay?” I teased, winking at him. He responded with a weird noise from the back of his throat, halfway between a cough and a whimper. I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. He really is afraid of girls. I wonder what would happen if he met a really pretty girl, like my eonni.

“So, what brings you to our dressing room Gale-ah?” Jin-oppa asked. My eyebrows furrowed as I thought of how to respond without showing how angry I was just a few minutes ago. 

“Oh, I was trying to get away from some fans. They were getting a bit too comfortable. I’m sorry again for intruding.” I explained as I bowed again.

“No need to apologize.” Yoongi-oppa said. I gave him a small smile.

“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Jimin-oppa asked, looking like he was really worried.

“I’m fine oppa. Thank you for the concern.”

I suddenly felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I excused myself to check it and saw that I got a text.

**Jennini Panini:** _Where are you? We’re leaving in five minutes!_

I put my phone back and turned to the group. “I have to go now, but it was nice meeting you all.” I was about to head to the door when I felt someone grab my arm.

“Wait! Can I get a picture with you?” Tae-oppa requested. I gave him a big smile.

“Sure!” 

“W-wait I want a picture with Gale-ah too!” Jimin-oppa said, standing up and approaching me. I blushed at how casually he said my name.

“Me too! Me too!” Hoseok-oppa chanted.

“How about we just take one group photo together?” Jin-oppa suggested, trying to keep his children in line. We all squeezed together as he pulled up his phone and held it as far as he can. I put my right hand up in a peace sign as he took the picture. Once we were done, Namjoon-oppa opened the door for me.

“Goodbye! I hope we see each other again soon!” I said as I waved. They all waved back, except Jungkook. But I swear as the door closed behind me, I heard him call out.

“Noona saranghaeyo!”

Or maybe I was just hallucinating.

* * *

Oppa - 오빠 - What a younger girl would call an older boy

Noona - 누나 - What a younger boy would call an older girl

Joesonghamnida - 죄송합니다- I'm sorry

Jagi/Jagiya - 자기/자기야 - self, used as darling

Jinjjayo - 진짜요 - Really

Saranghaeyo - 사랑해요 - I love you


	7. (Line Distribution) Playing With Fire & Stay

**PLAYING WITH FIRE**

_GALE_  
uri eomman maeil naege malhaesseo  
eonjena namja joshimharago  
sarangeun machi buljangnan gataseo  
dachinikka Eh

 _JISOO_  
eomma mari kkok majeuljjido molla  
neol bomyeon nae mami tteugeopge daraolla  
duryeoumbodan neol hyanghan kkeullimi  
deo keunikka Eh

 _ROSÉ_  
meomchul su eomneun i tteollimeun  
On and on and on  
nae jeonbureul neoran sesange  
da deonjigo shipeo

 _JENNIE_  
Look at me look at me now  
ireoke neon nal aetaeugo itjana  
kkeul su eopseo

 _GALE_  
uri sarangeun buljangnan

 _ROSÉ_  
My love is on fire

 _JENNIE_  
Now burn baby burn

 _JISOO_  
buljangnan

 _ROSÉ_  
My love is on fire

 _JENNIE_  
So don’t play with me boy

 _JISOO_  
buljangnan

 _LISA_  
Oh no nan imi meolli wabeoryeonneungeol  
eoneusae i modeun ge jangnani anin geol  
sarangiran ppalgan bulsshi  
bureora baram deo keojeoganeun bulkkil  
ige yaginji doginji uri eommado molla  
nae mam doduginde wae gyeongchaldo molla

 _JENNIE_  
bul buteun nae shimjange deo bueora neoran gireum  
Kiss him will I diss him  
I don’t know but I miss him  
jungdogeul neomeoseon i sarangeun crack  
nae shimjange saekkareun black

 _ROSÉ_  
meomchul su eomneun i tteollimeun  
On and on and on  
nae jeonbureul neoran bulkkil sogeuro  
deonjigo shipeo

 _LISA_  
Look at me look at me now  
ireoke neon nal aetaeugo itjana  
kkeul su eopseo

 _GALE_  
uri sarangeun buljangnan

 _JISOO_  
My love is on fire

 _LISA_  
Now burn baby burn

 _GALE_  
buljangnan

 _JISOO_  
My love is on fire

 _LISA_  
So don’t play with me boy

 _GALE_  
buljangnan

 _JISOO_  
geotjabeul suga eomneun geol  
neomuna ppalli peojeo ganeun i bulkkil

 _GALE_  
ireon nal meomchuji ma  
i sarangi oneul bameul taeweobeorige Woo

* * *

**STAY**

_ROSÉ_  
tukhamyeon geuchin maldeullo  
nae mame sangcheoreul naenohgo  
mianhadan mal hanmadi eobsi  
tto na hanja wirohago  
oneul harudo hoksi  
nal tteonalkka neul buranhae hae  
I just want you to stay

 _GALE_  
jeomjeom mudyeojyeo ganeun  
neoui geu mupyojeong soge  
cheoncheonhi naeryeonohjamyeo  
geoure soksagigon hae  
nal dangyeonhage saenggakhaneun neojiman  
geuge neodawo geuraedo  
Stay stay stay with me

 _JISOO_  
neol darmeun deuthan seulpeun mellodi  
ireohge nal ullineunde eh eh  
ne hyanggineun dalkomhan felony  
neomu mipjiman saranghae

 _LISA_  
eoduun bami nal gadugi jeone  
nae gyeoteul tteonajima

 _JENNIE_  
ajik nal saranghani na mamgwa gatdamyeon  
oneureun tteonajima

 _ROSÉ_  
guji neoyeoyaman haneun iyuneun mutjima  
geujeo nae gyeote stay with me

 _JENNIE_  
(It goes a little something like)

 _EVERYONE_  
Lalalalalala Lalalalalala Lalalalalala  
Lalalalalala Lalalalalala Lalalalalala

 _JISOO_  
jigeum dangjang manheungeol baraneun ge anya  
geujeo nae gyeote stay with me

 _JENNIE_  
sasireun nan deo baraneun ge eobseo ije  
simjangeun ttwigin haneun geonji mugamgakhae geurae  
saramdeulgwaui eokjiseureon hanmadibodan  
neowaui eosaekhan chimmugi charari joha

 _LISA_  
So stay geuge eodiga dwaetgeon mariya  
gakkeum eodumi ol ttaemyeon I’ll be your fire  
geojit gateun sesang sok yuilhan truth it’s you  
This a letter from me to you

 _GALE_  
neol darmeun deuthan seulpeun mellodi  
ireohge nal ullineunde eh eh  
ne hyanggineun dalkomhan felony  
neomu mipjiman saranghae

 _JENNIE_  
eoduun bami nal gadugi jeone  
nae gyeoteul tteonajima

 _LISA_  
ajik nal saranghani na mamgwa gatdamyeon  
oneureun tteonajima

 _ROSÉ_  
guji neoyeoyaman haneun iyuneun mutjima  
geujeo nae gyeote stay with me

 _LISA_  
(It goes a little something like)

 _EVERYONE_  
Lalalalalala Lalalalalala Lalalalalala  
Lalalalalala Lalalalalala Lalalalalala

 _JISOO_  
jigeum dangjang manheungeol baraneun ge anya  
geujeo nae gyeote stay with me

 _LISA_  
(It goes a little something like)

 _EVERYONE_  
Lalalalalala Lalalalalala Lalalalalala  
Lalalalalala Lalalalalala Lalalalalala

 _GALE_  
jigeum dangjang manheungeol baraneun ge anya  
geujeo nae gyeote stay with me


	8. (BTS Cam) Backstage

The backstage of _Inkigayo_ was hectic. The staff members were running all over the place, making sure that everything was in order. There were idols everywhere, waiting for their turn to perform on stage.

A blonde girl ran past Jungkook, almost making him fall over. She blurted an apology over her shoulder but kept on running. Jungkook’s eyes followed after her, wondering why she was in such a hurry.

The said girl finally stopped running when she reached her group. They were standing near the stairs towards the stage as they were performing next. Jungkook froze when he realized who the girls were.

“Jungkookie! I’ve shouted your name like three times already!” Taehyung complained as he approached the maknae. When Jungkook didn’t even acknowledge him, he became annoyed.

“Yah! Jeon Jungkook! What are you even…” He trailed off as he followed his dongsaeng’s gaze.

“No way! Is that BLACKPINK?!” He gasped. “Come on Kookie, let’s go ask for a picture.” He urged as he pulled Jungkook to where the girlgroup was. Before they even came close, BLACKPINK was already called to stage.

“Darn it! Maybe later then.” Taehyung sighed. No way he was going to let the day pass without meeting his bias.

* * *

Jimin was still thinking about Gale when they entered the dressing room. When their eyes met on stage, he felt something that he had never felt before. He didn’t know what it was, but he hoped that she felt it too.

“Come on hyung! Let me look for their dressing room! I just want a picture with them!”

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Taehyung’s pleas. Taehyung had been begging their leader to let him find BLACKPINK’s dressing room since they left the stage. Jimin thought that this was also a good opportunity for him to finally meet Gale.

“Are you sure you mean them? Or her?” Hoseok joked. Taehyung just grinned at his hyung. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the other members of BLACKPINK, it was just that one member stood out more to him. It’s normal to have a bias when you stan a group, right?

It’s also normal to be amazed by everything your bias does and find her extremely beautiful and perfect, right?

 “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he behaves himself.” Jimin reassured Namjoon, hoping that he’d allow them. Namjoon looked like he was about to cave in when Yoongi spoke up.

“You do realize that that’s a bit creepy, right?” He said. “We all want to meet them but we can’t just go to their dressing room uninvited.”

Taehyung looked a bit dejected at the remark and sat on the couch. Jimin plopped down next to him, also disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to meet Gale after all.

Jungkook however, was still hyped from BLACKPINK’s performance.

“Gale-noona looked stunning today on the stage. Her movements were so fluid and her voice was powerful.” He praised as he sat on the carpet and leaned his head on Jimin’s lap. 

“Yah, why are you calling her noona? You don’t even know her!” Jin teased, making Jungkook blush and his head away from his hyung.

“I like the rap part of the song. It’s so catchy!” Hoseok commented. He then proceeded to sing it at the top of his lungs.

_“This is past addiction,”_

_“This love is crack,”_ Namjoon continued.

 _“The color of my heart is black!”_ Yoongi finished, making everyone look at him in surprise. He gave everyone a look, _daring_ them to comment.

“We still might meet BLACKPINK.” He said, hoping to shift the focus. “I heard that the CEO of YG Entertainment contacted Bang-PDnim yesterday to talk about the possibility of having me collab with Gale because of what she said during the VLive.”

All three of the maknaes were shocked at this. What they would give to have the opportunity instead. Jimin was happy for his hyung of course, but at the same time, he was also burning with jealousy. Gale also mentioned that she wanted to work with him. Why wasn’t that addressed?

Still, he wanted to congratulate his hyung and was just about to do so when they heard a voice from the other side of their dressing room door.

_“This is my stop, goodbye.”_

Then, their door opened. A girl entered and shut it quickly, leaning her forehead against it. She didn’t seem to notice the seven boys who were already in the room. They all looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Namjoon, being the group’s leader, spoke up.

“Excuse me, can we help you?”

The girl tensed for a second before immediately bowing.

“Joesonghamnida. I didn’t know that there was someone in the room.” She said. Jungkook’s eyes widened. He knew that voice. He had listened to it hundreds of times before on his iPod.

It was like everything was in slow motion when she got up from her bow. Her hair flipped away and fell gracefully, the long black strands tinged with red framing her face. Her eyes widened a bit and her pink lips parted slightly, no doubt in surprise when she realized where she was.

Jimin felt his heart skip a beat.

Jungkook looked away. He knew that he couldn’t look at her for more than a few seconds without turning into a tomato.

“Y-you’re BTS!” She exclaimed. “I’m Cheon Gaeil from BLACKPINK! I’m such a big fan!”

This made the hyungs smile. They loved meeting ARMYs. Plus points if the ARMY is pretty, talented, and a member of one of their favorite groups.

Taehyung was grinning so wide that his cheeks started hurting, but he couldn’t help himself. So he _didn’t_ dream that his bias knew who he was and admired his group.

“We know who you are.” Namjoon told her. “We’re also big fans of your group.”

The way that Gale’s face lit up when Namjoon said that was bright enough to light the room, at least in Jungkook’s opinion. 

“Jinjjayo?! That means a lot sunbaenim! Thank you!” She said as she bowed again. This made Hoseok want to pinch her cheeks.

“She’s so cute!” He cooed. Gale giggled at the comment and sent him two finger hearts, which made the boy chuckle.

If he weren’t so jealous, Jimin would have found the whole thing cute.

Who was he kidding? Even when he’s extremely jealous he still found the whole thing cute.

On the other hand, this made Taehyung consider investing in another life insurance plan. This girl was going to be the death of him, he was sure of it.

“No need to call me sunbaenim. Call me Namjoon-oppa.” Namjoon told her. He looked at his members, encouraging them to follow suit.

While his hyungs started to introduce themselves one by one, Jungkook was busy trying to figure out how to talk to her without embarrassing himself. Why was he even nervous? He meets ARMYs all the time! Maybe he can think of her as just another ARMY?

He sneaked a peek at her again. She was smiling brightly at Hoseok, making Jungkook’s heart flutter.

_Nope, not gonna work._

Meanwhile, Jimin was thinking of how to introduce himself to make a good first impression. 

 _“Hi! Call me Jimin-oppa.”_ No, that’s boring. Maybe flirt a little bit and add a wink in there? Stand up and give her a hug? Or was that too much for a first meeting?

The moment she looked at him, his brain stopped working. The feeling from earlier today returned at full force.

_Come on, she’s waiting for you to say something._

“Ji-Ji..”

_Great. So much for making a good first impression._

“Um, Jiji?” She asked, looking at him questioningly. Jimin forced himself to tear his gaze away from her, if only to be able to think more clearly.

“Jimin-oppa.” He muttered. He didn’t know if he was imagining it or not, but it looked like her cheeks became tinged with pink after he spoke.

Then, it was Taehyung’s turn. 

“Tae-oppa, or jagi, your choice.” He said in what he hoped was a joking manner, although he was kind of hoping she would go for the second option.

“Okay, jagiya~” Gale responded, causing Taehyung to choke on his own spit. Jimin chuckled at Taehyung’s reaction as he patted his dongsaeng’s back. At least he wasn’t the only one who made a fool of himself.

All eyes now turned to Jungkook, who was panicking on the inside. He wasn’t ready! He didn’t even know what to say yet! Maybe he should just copy what his hyungs said, plain and simple.

“Jungkook-oppa.”

 _Why am I an idiot?_ Jungkook thought. He bet his face was so red now. He felt Taehyung shaking on the couch behind him, probably trying to stop himself from laughing out loud. 

“She’s older than you, Kookie.” Namjoon reminded his dongsaeng. He didn’t know why Jungkook was acting that way. He didn’t know why the maknae line was acting like they’ve never seen a girl before. 

Jimin was always flirty and confident. Yeah, he became a bit more reserved as the years passed, but he was always playful around ARMYs.  

Taehyung was not really acting out of the ordinary, except for the fact that he seemed to like BLACKPINK and their main vocal a bit too much. Much more than a normal fan would.

Granted, Jungkook has always been shy around new people, but usually he would do well enough to hold a polite conversation, or at least acknowledge the person properly by looking them in the eyes before reverting to his introverted state.

He’s going to have to sit them down and get to the bottom of this.

“Are guys sure you want me to call you by your real names?” Gale asked them. They did just meet and weren’t really close with each other yet, so Jimin understood why she would be a bit surprised that they asked her to call them oppa- or in Jungkook’s case, Kookie.

Why _did_ they decide to be so casual with her? 

It didn’t matter. To be honest, Jimin enjoyed the thought of having her call him oppa, so he nodded in agreement.

“Well in that case, you guys can just call me, you know, by my name. Except Kookie,” 

Jungkook’s head snapped up at the mention of his name.

“Call me noona, okay?” She winked. A weird noise escaped from Jungkook’s mouth, making him sound like a crying puppy. 

 _What the hell was that?_ He thought.

“So, what brings you to our dressing room Gale-ah?” Jin asked the girl- not that he didn’t want her there, he just found it funny that just seconds before she came, they were talking about meeting her.

“Oh, um, I was trying to get away from some fans. They were getting a bit too comfortable. I’m sorry again for intruding.” She apologized, bowing again to express how embarrassed she was that she just showed up. Yoongi smiled a little bit. This girl had great manners, unlike some of the foreign idols they’ve encountered in the past.

“No need to apologize.” He assured her, making Gale smile back at him.

Jimin however, grew concerned. He knew how wild fans can get. Did they push her? Pull her hair? He had to make sure that she was okay.

“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” He asked. This time, he was sure that she definitely blushed before answering him.

“I’m fine oppa. Thank you for the concern.”

Hearing her call him oppa made Jimin feel like there were butterflies in his stomach. He wanted to hear her say it again.

Suddenly, Gale received a text, prompting her to say her goodbyes to the group. She was just about to open the door when Taehyung jumped from the sofa and grabbed her arm.

“Wait! Can I get a picture with you?” He asked. Noticing that he was still holding her arm, he gently let go of it, hoping that she didn’t notice the blush that formed on his cheeks. He didn’t even plan on touching her. He just desperately didn’t want her to leave so soon.

Jimin however, noticed. Did his dongsaeng have a crush on Gale?

 _No way_ , Jimin thought. _He’s just a huge fan_.

But still, he wouldn’t allow himself to be upstaged by Taehyung.

“W-wait I want a picture with Gale-ah too!” He said, also standing up from his seat.

“Me too! Me too!” Hoseok added. Jin, not wanting the girl to be delayed any longer, suggested that they all take one picture together, which upset Taehyung.

 _I_ _wanted a solo picture with her!_ He whined internally. _Oh well, I’ll get it next time_.

Everyone compressed together so they could all be captured by Jin’s phone camera. Jimin prayed that Gale wouldn’t hear how loud his heart was beating, being as her face was almost pressed against his chest. 

Once that was done, Namjoon opened the door for her. 

“Goodbye! I hope we see each other again soon!” She told them. Without even thinking, Jungkook called after her as Namjoon closed the door.

“Noona saranghaeyo!”

But the door was already shut. All of the members looked at him in shock.

“What was that?” Hoseok asked. Jungkook didn’t answer, partly because he didn’t want to be teased about it and partly because he also didn’t know what the hell that was.

 _I really need to find out what’s happening_. Namjoon thought. He was about to bring up what was on his mind when their manager entered the room.

“Come on guys, let’s go home.” He said.

 _Maybe another time_ , Namjoon reasoned. After all, the boys were tired from performing, and they did just meet one of their idols. 

_It’s not like it’s a big deal. They were probably just starstruck._

Oh how wrong he was.


	9. Working With Suga

“I still can’t believe you met them eonni! And now you get to work with them! You’re so lucky!” Lisa said as she took a bite out of her toast.

I had just finished telling my group about how I met BTS yesterday at Inkigayo. I wanted to tell them last night but we were so tired that we literally fell asleep the moment we got in the car. Of course, I skipped the part about the “fans” bashing them. I just told them the same thing I told BTS.

Also, earlier today our manager texted me, saying that my collab with Yoongi-oppa was a go and that I have to go to BigHit immediately after breakfast to start working on it since both BLACKPINK’s and BTS’ schedules were packed.

“How are they in real life? Are they nice?” Rosé asked. I shrugged my shoulders as I grabbed the milk carton from the center of the table and filled my glass.

“I didn’t really get the chance to get to know them since we spoke for like five minutes.” I chuckled. “But they seemed nice. I guess I’ll find out later.”

“Who’s the most handsome in person?” Jisoo-eonni asked as she got another pancake from the stack in front of her. My mind immediately went to the grey-haired dancer with mesmerizing eyes.

“Why would you even ask her that? We already know her answer.” Jennie teased. I stuck my tongue out at her. We all knew who each other’s bias was, although only I seemed to have a crush on mine. They only see their biases as their idols. I didn’t know how that was possible considering that the boys were literally perfect. 

“Was Jimin-ssi how you expected him to be?” Jisoo-eonni changed her question, which made Jennie giggle because she knew that she agreed with her.

“Yeah eonni! Was there a spark between you two? Because I totally ship it.” Lisa chirped. I was about to answer when Jennie interjected.

“Excuse me Lisa, I’m the captain of the ship called GaeMin.” She told our maknae. They began arguing about who shipped me with Jimin-oppa harder, with Lisa saying that she already picked out her bridesmaid’s dress, while Jennie claimed that she already thought of the perfect names for our three future children.

“…of course the youngest one will be named after her aunt Jennie.” She finished. Rosé and I were just watching them in amusement.

“Okay guys, that’s enough. It’s just a crush, right Galie?” Jisoo-eonni said, stopping the two and turning to me for confirmation. I nodded my head, agreeing with her. This time, Rosé spoke up.

“No it’s not. You should’ve seen Gale-eonni yesterday on the Inkigayo stage. The way she and Jimin-ssi were looking at each other, it was like they were both seeing the sun for the first time.” She gushed, leaning her head on Lisa’s shoulder. They both sighed as Lisa placed her head on top of Rosé’s.

“What were his first words to you when you met him?” She asked. Both Jisoo-eonni and Jennie also looked at me with curiosity.

“His first words were…” I started before clearing my throat, “…Jiji.”

They all looked at me in confusion.

“Jiji? What’s Jiji?” Jennie asked.

“He was introducing himself.” I explained. This made the maknaes coo and talk about how he “was rendered speechless by my beauty”. I just rolled my eyes at their ridiculousness, although I wasn’t able to hide the smile tugging at my lips.

“Just watch out Galie, you don’t know how that boy is. Be careful or he might break your heart.” Jisoo-eonni warned, being the mom that she is.

“No, you’re right. It’s just a stupid crush, I’ll get over it. Besides, he wouldn’t like me like that anyways.” I said. Lisa was about to object when Jisoo-eonni spoke again.

“And are you forgetting we have a 3-year dating ban?” She added, this time not just addressing me, but everyone, giving us stern looks.

“Jiyong-oppa told me that no one really follows that rule.” Jennie said jokingly, which made us all laugh.

“Still, it’s not like we have the time for a relationship.” I told them. “And even if we did, I wouldn’t need anyone else. I got you guys.”

“Aww, eonni!” Rosé cooed as she gave me a side-hug. Lisa and Jennie eventually joined our little hugfest.

“Come on eonni!” Jennie called Jisoo-eonni, who shook her head before joining us. We all giggled as we pulled apart and began clearing the table and putting the dishes in the sink.

“Leave this to us. They’re expecting you in BigHit in an hour.” Jennie told me as she grabbed the plates I was carrying from my hands.

“You sure?” I asked. When they nodded their heads, I grabbed my bag then headed towards the door. “See you guys later!” 

“Bring me donuts eonni!” Lisa called as I left the dorm.

* * *

“Good morning, we’re from YG Entertainment. Bang-PDnim is expecting us.” My manager told the receptionist. We were currently standing in the lobby of BigHit Entertainment’s building. It was a lot different from YG’s lobby. For one, there were a lot fewer people running around.

“Oh yes. He’s in his office. Please follow me.” The receptionist smiled as she got up from her desk. She led us through a long, white hallway, stopping at the elevator at the end.

“Please take this elevator to the top floor. Bang-PDnim’s office is behind the door to the left.”

My manager and I thanked her as she went back to her post. I pressed the button for the top floor, causing the elevator to move. We got out when the doors opened, revealing another hallway that branched to the left and to the right. My manager led the way as we headed towards the big wooden doors on the left.

He knocked on the door and opened it when we heard a voice from the other side that told us to come in. Bang-PDnim was sitting on his desk, typing something on his computer. He stood up when he saw us.

“You must be Gale! Welcome! And you must be the manager! Please, sit down.” He greeted us. My manager and I sat on the seats in front of his desk.

“You know, you caused quite a stir on social media.” He said to me. My manager and I looked at each other before I got up and bowed.

“I’m sorry sir for any inconvenience I caused.” I apologized. Bang-PDnim let out a chuckle.

“The boys weren’t kidding. You are polite.” He complimented. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. So BTS talked about me? And they said I was polite?

“Well, the boys should be in the practice room. You can go ahead while your manager and I discuss some business. Just take the elevator to the floor below this one. It’s the only room on that floor, you won’t miss it.” He instructed. I bowed again once more before excusing myself from the room and following his instructions. 

I saw the practice room door as soon as I got out of the elevator. From the other side, I could hear heavy footsteps against a wooden floor, which immediately stopped when I knocked. It took a few seconds before someone opened the door. When it swung open, I found myself face to face with Jungkook. He was breathing heavily and his forehead was shining with sweat.

“Good morning Kookie! Is Yoongi-oppa here?” I asked him. He looked at me for a few seconds before walking away, leaving me standing alone. I blinked a few times.

Well that was a bit rude.

I peeked through the door which he left opened and saw that he was talking to Yoongi-oppa, who then noticed me.

“Gale-ah, good morning.” He greeted as he walked towards me. At the mention of my name, the other members looked in my direction. They were all wearing comfortable clothes and no makeup. Tae-oppa ran to me, overtaking Yoongi-oppa and almost tripping in the process.

“Gale-ah! You’re here!” He exclaimed as he hugged me, which surprised me a lot.

“Yah! Let go of her before you scare her away!” Jimin-oppa scolded. Tae-oppa pouted as he released me from his embrace.

“It’s okay, I enjoy hugs.” I giggled, causing Tae-oppa’s face to brighten.

“Yeah Jiminie. You’re just jealous because you got no jams.” He told Jimin-oppa.

“That’s enough children.” Namjoon-oppa commanded.

“Hyung,” he said, addressing Yoongi-oppa, “the two of you go ahead. We’ll just do one more run through of the set. We’ll see you at lunch.”

“Okay.” Yoongi-oppa agreed. “Follow me.” He said as he walked towards the elevator. I waved goodbye to the other members and followed him.

We were silent throughout our entire walk to the studio where we were going to work, and not the good kind of silence either- the awkward kind. Yoongi-oppa must have noticed my discomfort because he asked me as we entered the studio, “Are you okay?” 

The studio we entered was a medium-sized room with recording equipment, a piano, and a guitar. The walls were lined with soundproof-padding. There was a huge, black leather couch on the side and four chairs near the middle of the room.

“Yeah,” I said as I sat on one of the chairs. “I’m just nervous to work with you, that’s all.” I confessed. He gave me a gummy smile.

“Why? I don’t bite.” 

“It’s just that you guys are my idols. This is literally a dream come true for me.” I confessed. He chuckled as he lifted the cover of the piano.

“Well, I hope I don’t disappoint.” He said. “So, what do you have in mind?”

“Actually, I’ve had this melody stuck in my brain for a while.” I told him. I stood up from the chair and walked towards the piano. “May I?” I asked. He looked at me with surprise before nodding his head. I sat down and began playing the tune that has been bugging my mind.

“So, what do you think?” I asked once I finished.

“You play so properly.” He replied with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. I gave him a confused look.

“Your back is straight. Your chin is leveled. Your fingers are extended but not tense.” He pointed out. “You look like you should be playing at Carnegie Hall.” I blushed at his compliment.

“Thank you oppa, but I was actually asking about the melody.” I chuckled. He gave me another gummy smile.

“I like it. We can work with that.”

The entire morning, we threw ideas back and forth. The story we settled on for the song was one about a toxic love, but that both people involved didn’t want to let the other go. We had so many ideas that we didn’t know how to condense it into one song.

We also grew closer during those few hours. I felt my admiration for Yoongi-oppa grow. Yes, we joked around every now and then, but he knew when to be serious. He was very professional throughout the whole thing. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we didn’t notice that it was already lunchtime. We only realized it when we were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Yoongi-oppa stood up and opened it slightly, revealing Jimin-oppa on the other side.

“Hyung, it’s time for lunch. The others already went to the restaurant at the end of the street to order for us. Oh, and Jin-hyung was asking where his phone was.” He said.

“Aish, I left it in the dorm. I’ll go get it. You two go ahead.” Yoongi-oppa answered as he left the room, leaving me and Jimin-oppa.

“H-hello.” He greeted me. “Let’s go?”

I followed him as he walked out of the room. Like my walk with Yoongi-oppa, this one was awkward too. I felt him sneak glances at me every now and then, looking like he was debating whether to talk to me or not.

Did I look that scary? I mean, I knew that YG artists had a certain image of being cold and badass, but that was just onstage. Did he think I was like that in real life? I decided to break the ice myself.

“So, where are we eating?” I asked. He looked surprised that I talked to him, but then cleared his throat and answered.

“It’s a small restaurant at the end of the street. The boys and I always eat there. The food’s delicious and the old lady who runs the restaurant always gives us discounts.”

“That’s nice. I am a bit hungry.” I replied.  After that, there was awkward silence again. I let out a disappointed sigh. Yes, he’s my crush, but I just wanted to be friends with him, and it’s like he’s not interested at all.

“H-how was working with Yoongi-hyung?” He asked after a while. I was so happy that he talked that I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot.

“He’s great!” I answered. “The song’s coming along really nicely.”

He chuckled at my answer, which confused me. 

“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“You expression changed. You look so happy.” He said. “It’s cute.” His eyes widened when he realized what he said. It was the cutest thing ever. I had to stop myself from cooing.

“I’m just happy that I’m getting to know you guys better. BTS is first K-Pop group that I ever liked.” I confessed, which seemed to surprise him. “And of course also the fact that I’m talking to you. You are my bias after all.” 

A blush appeared on his cheeks, making me giggle.

“Don’t tell the others that though, I don’t want them to think I’m playing favorites.” I joked. 

We finally arrived at the restaurant to find the boys sitting around a table on the corner. There was already a lot of food on the table, but no one was eating yet. We joined them and after a few minutes, Yoongi-oppa joined us too. We spent the rest of our meal asking each other questions and making jokes. I clicked right away with most of the members, like Hoseok-oppa and Tae-oppa who were literally impossible to not get along with, Jin-oppa, who made me laugh with his corny jokes that were so bad they were funny, and Namjoon-oppa, who translated for me whenever I couldn’t understand something that someone had said, or whenever I wouldn't know how to say something in Korean. Jimin-oppa seemed to grow more comfortable around me, and by the end of lunch, we were joking like old friends, although he still did get flustered from time to time.

Jungkook was a different story though. He didn’t really eat his food, rather just picked through it the entire time. I got the feeling that he was really uncomfortable sitting next to me. He also joked with the others, but he never really directly acknowledged me except for when I asked him to pass the soy sauce. 

Did he hate me? Maybe I teased him too much yesterday?  

Eventually, lunch was over and we headed back to BigHit. The boys went back to their practice room while Yoongi-oppa and I went back to the studio.

A few hours later, my manager texted me to meet him in the lobby, telling me that it was time for us to leave. Yoongi-oppa laughed at me when I told him that I didn’t want to leave yet because I was having too much fun working with him. He comforted me by saying that we’ll see each other again tomorrow as he accompanied me to the lobby. On the way, we stopped by the practice room where I said goodbye to the rest of the boys, who begged me and Yoongi-oppa to let them hear what we’ve done so far, but Yoongi-oppa insisted that we keep it a surprise.

I fell asleep once I got in the car. After a while, the driver woke me up, saying that we were already in front of the dorm. I was about to go out of the car when I realized something.

I forgot to buy donuts for Lisa.

* * *

Aish - 아이씨 - an expression of frustration


	10. Dancing With Jimin

_“You are going to London and that’s final!” My mom ordered. I looked at her with defiant eyes._

_“No I’m not!” I replied. I was fighting for my future, and I was fighting as hard as I could. Tears were running down my cheeks, smearing my makeup, but I didn’t care. “Why can’t you understand that I don’t want to do this? I-I want-”_

_“-to become a KPop idol?!” She interjected, raising her voice. She caught herself, putting back on her cold, collected demeanor. “What will everyone say when they find out that you gave up ballet for some stupid fad?”_

_“Stop saying that!” I defended. I took a deep breath, calming myself before making my final plea. “Mom, I’ve made my decision. Please let me go to Korea.”_

_“You’ve made yours and I’ve made mine. The moment you leave through those doors you’re no longer my daughter.” She said, her expression as hard as steel._

_“Dad, please.” I begged the man who just stood beside my mother throughout the entire argument, not saying a word. He just looked at me with sad, disappointed eyes. Knowing that for the first time in my life I wouldn’t get what I wanted, I turned around and headed towards the door._

_“Goodbye.” I told them. I walked out, feeling scared but freer than I’ve ever felt my entire life._

_“Gale!”_

_What was that? Was someone calling me? Did my parents change their minds? I turned around, but there was no one there._

_“Gale!”_

“Galie! Your ride’s here!” Jennie exclaimed, waking me up. I shook my head, trying to get the dream out of my head as I stood up from my bed.

Now is not the time for sad memories.

Yoongi-oppa called me earlier today, asking if I wanted to watch our music video for the first time together. He invited me and the other members of BLACKPINK to have dinner at their dorm to celebrate the release of our music video, but Yang-sajangnim said that he wanted to talk to the girls, and only permitted me to go. Since members of BLACKPINK weren’t allowed to drive, Jimin-oppa volunteered to come and fetch me. I must’ve fallen asleep waiting for him.

“You know, he is more handsome in person.” Jennie said, looping her arm around mine as we began walking to the living room.

“Ugh, please don’t embarrass me.” I begged. A mischievous smirk appeared on her face.

“You mean by not telling Jimin-ssi that you want to have his babies? I wouldn’t dream of it.” She teased. I felt the heat rise up to my cheeks. 

“Yah! I told you already it’s not like that! We’re just friends!” I told her. 

“Uh-huh, sure.” She replied, clearly not believing me.

We arrived at the living room, where Jimin-oppa had just finished telling the others a joke, making them laugh. He looked up as we entered, his face lighting up as he saw us.

“Gale-ah! You look so beautiful!” He complimented. I wasn’t wearing anything special- just an oversized shirt tucked into high-waisted shorts and white sneakers- nor was I wearing a lot of makeup. I felt the heat rise up to my cheeks. Over the past few weeks of me working with Yoongi-oppa and hanging out with the rest of BTS during our break, I had grown the closest to him. He had gotten over his shyness towards me and finally showed me the outgoing, flirty side I usually see in their videos and performances.

Jennie wagged her eyebrows at me when he said the compliment, while behind him, the maknaes hugged each other, silently squealing.

“Thank you oppa. Let’s go?” I asked. He nodded and we walked towards the door.

“Be sure to have her back before midnight.” Jisoo-eonni reminded, giving Jimin-oppa a stern look. 

“Yes noona.” He replied, looking nervous. I laughed at his facial expression.

“Goodbye guys, see you later!” I said as I closed the door. We walked out of the building and to the parking lot where a black car was parked. He opened the passenger seat door for me before getting in the driver’s seat and started driving to their dorm.

“They seem nice.” He chuckled, making me groan. “It’s too bad they couldn’t come with us. They said they had a lot of stories about you.”

“Please tell me they didn’t tell you something embarrassing.” I said. His lips turned up in a smile as he quickly glanced at me before turning his attention back to the road.

“Embarrassing? Like what?” He asked. My mind immediately thought of all the fangirl moments I had, the most recent was when I cried like a baby when they won their first Daesang award two weeks ago, but since they didn’t seem to have told him anything, I just brushed it off.

“Nothing, nothing.” I answered. He pouted, making his cheek look chubbier.

“Stop that before I pinch your cute little cheek.” I joked.

“Yah! Don’t say that! I’m a man you know. My cheeks aren’t cute.” He scolded, making me giggle at his silliness.

“Well if they aren’t cute, what are they?” I asked. He thought for a moment before answering.

“Sexy. I have sexy cheeks.”

“I bet those sexy cheeks of yours gets all the girls.” I said, playing along. He just winked at me, making me laugh.

We pulled up in front of their dorm. I got out of the car and followed him into the building. He went up a flight of stairs before stopping in front of a white door.

“We’re here!” He announced as we entered the room. I immediately got tackled with a hug.

“Gale-ah! I missed you!” Tae-oppa said. Every time I enter a room, he was always the first to greet me and give me a hug.

“Oppa, I just saw you two days ago!” I chuckled, hugging him back.

“I know. It’s been two days too long.” He replied. I heard Jimin-oppa cough beside me before pulling me with him and away from Tae-oppa.

“That’s enough. Come on, sit with me.”

He led me to the couch where Jungkook was also sitting, busy with his phone. I plopped down in between them. Tae-oppa followed, sitting on the carpet in front of us.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“Jin-hyung and Hobi-hyung are in the kitchen, preparing our food. Namjoon-hyung and Yoongi-hyung are talking to Bang-PDnim, but they’ll be here soon.” Jimin-oppa explained. 

“I’m so hyped for your song Galie! Yoongi-hyung won’t even tell us the title or the concept.” Tae-oppa said.

“I know. We agreed to keep it a secret.” I replied. “It was so hard to not tell the girls about the song.”

“Be patient Taehyungie. I bet it’s going to be awesome.” Jimin-oppa told his dongsaeng. I smiled at him.

“Of course it is! I wouldn’t want to disappoint all the ARMYs and BLINKs who waited patiently.”

The day after I first went to BigHit, both of our companies announced the collab on twitter, sending both ARMYs and BLINKs into a frenzy. Both fandoms began creating crazy theories about our upcoming song, and at one point there was even a theory that it was mine and Yoongi-oppa’s way of announcing our relationship to the public. There was also a theory that it was just a joke by both companies since we didn’t release any further information aside from the release date and time.

“But you guys kept it so much of a secret that you didn’t even release any teasers aside from the one that was posted on Instagram yesterday.” Tae-oppa complained, referring to the photo of me and Yoongi-oppa standing in front of a burning house. Both of us were wearing dark clothes. His back was turned to the camera, while I was hugging him, staring directly at it.

“Actually, let’s go check on Yoongi-hyung and Namjoon-hyung and let them know Galie’s here.” Jimin-oppa said. He and Tae-oppa stood up and began walking towards the door.

“Yah, maknae! Keep her company while we’re gone, okay?” Tae-oppa ordered as they left the room, leaving me and Jungkook alone in awkward silence.

“Annyeong Kookie.” I greeted. He didn’t even bother looking up from his phone. His eyebrows were furrowed, looking like he was in deep concentration.

“What are you playing?” I asked as I scooted closer to him so I can see his screen. I felt him tense up beside me. He was playing “Piano Tiles”, his fingers rapidly moving across the screen.

“I see your busy, I’ll just talk to you later.” I told him as I got up and began to walk away. I knew how to take a hint. He obviously didn’t want to talk to me. I couldn’t understand why though. I didn’t do anything wrong- at least I think I didn’t. Every time I would hang out with Bangtan he would always ignore me. I stopped in my tracks and turned back around to face him.

“You know what? No.” I said firmly. He must have noticed the seriousness in my voice because he finally put his phone down. I took a deep breath as I sat next to him.

“Jungkook, do you hate me?” I asked, which seemed to surprise him. But still, he didn’t say anything. I took that as a cue to continue.

“You don’t seem to like me as much as the other boys do. You don’t talk to me, you don’t even look at me. I thought at first that you were just shy or something, but it’s been weeks and-” I stopped myself, Jungkook was still just looking at me. He looked like he wanted to say something but he didn’t. I just sighed. I can’t force him to like me.

“I’m sorry for whatever it is I did to offend you.” I apologized. “I won’t be bothering you anymore.” 

I got up and went to the kitchen, helping Jin-oppa and Hoseok-oppa cook instead. Eventually we finished, bringing the food to the living room so that we could eat while watching the music video. The rest of the boys arrived a few minutes later, just in time for the release of the music video. We all gathered around the TV, waiting excitedly for 8:00 PM. The moment the minute hand of the clock struck twelve, we refreshed BigHit’s YouTube page.

The [video](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U) started off slow, with me singing in front of a burning house. It was alternated with scenes of me and Yoongi-oppa lying on a bed together, with his arm draped across my stomach.

 _“Just gonna stand there and watch me burn_  
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts  
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry  
But that's alright because I love the way you lie  
I love the way you lie”

Then the beat dropped and the scene cut to Yoongi-oppa rapping in a field. Scenes of the two of us meeting, then falling in love, then fighting were inserted in between, then I would sing the chorus again.

We had a lot of fun filming the video. We spent a lot of time shooting the fighting scenes because we would always burst out laughing. There was one scene where Yoongi-oppa had to punch a wall, which we had to retake a million times because he couldn’t break the fake wall.

The video ended with me opening my eyes, starting the cycle of fighting and making up again.

“So, what do you guys think?” I asked once the screen cut to black.

“That was so awesome!” Hoseok-oppa exclaimed. Everyone else started to compliment me and Yoongi-oppa.

“You guys looked so badass!”

“The song was lit!”

“No fair hyung! I want to do a song with Galie too!” Tae-oppa whined. I smiled at him.

“Well, Yang-sajangnim said that if this collab does well he’ll let me do another one with a different member.” I explained. The maknae line’s heads turned to me at this.

“Really?” Jimin-oppa asked.

“Yup! Apparently the buzz that was created during the announcement of this collab was very positive and profitable for both parties, so they already signed a contract and whatnot.”

We then began to properly eat dinner around the living room table, just sitting on the floor and talking.

“So Gale-ah, we’ve never seen you dance before.” Tae-oppa said as he took a bite out of the chicken leg he was holding.

“Of course you have!” I replied, “I dance in all of BLACKPINK’s MVs and during live performances.”

“Yeah but that’s K-Pop dancing.” He countered. “We haven’t seen you _dance_ dance.”

I looked at him in confusion, not understanding where he was going with this. 

“What he’s trying to say is,” Hoseok-oppa explained, “will you please dance for us?”

“W-what?” I stuttered.

“She’s our guest boys. Don’t make her do something she doesn’t want to do.” Jin-oppa told his dongsaengs, making Tae-oppa pout, giving me puppy dog eyes.

“Okay,” I chuckled. “I can’t say no to that face.” I got up from the floor and began stretching my legs.

“This is going to be bad though. I can’t freestyle.” I warned. Suddenly Jimin-oppa stood up as well.

“I’ll help you.” He offered, making me blush. I picked a song from my phone, something that was fairly easy to dance to, and put it on the table.

I wasn’t sure how to move at first, but Jimin-oppa came up behind me and touched my shoulder. He began to [dance](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqn8FgEBKMg), and like magic, my body responded to his movements. We danced together like we’ve been doing it for years. The moves were simple, but I felt so much emotion.

_“Say you won’t let go.”_

He hugged me from behind just as the music was ending. I heard his heart beating hard against his chest. I knew mine was too. Then he spun me around so that I was looking directly at his eyes. His hands were on my waist and mine were around his neck. I felt our faces getting closer and-

We were interrupted by clapping from our audience. I pulled away from Jimin-oppa, my face flushed red. I hope they thought that it was just from dancing.

“Wait,” I said, noticing that Jin-oppa was holding out his phone. “Did you take a video of that?” He nodded his head.

“Of course! ARMYs and BLINKs will love this.” 

Jimin-oppa touched my shoulder again. “You did great.” He said. I gave him a smile.

“You too.”

* * *

“Something’s bothering you.” Jimin-oppa said. We were currently on the drive home. I was just sitting quietly and looking out of the window when he spoke, debating whether or not to tell him the truth.

“It’s just that- um… does Jungkook hate me?” I asked hesitantly. He looked at me with disbelief before turning his eyes back on the road.

“Hate you? The boy practically worships you.” He replied. “He always talks about how nice and pretty and talented you are when you’re not around.”

I looked at him disbelievingly.

“Are you sure? He doesn’t really talk to me.”

“He’s just like that around new people.” He explained.

“I’ve known you guys for a month now.”

“I guess you’re right. He should have been used to you by now. Do you want me to talk to him?” He offered. I shook my head.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just worried I might have done something to offend him.”

“He’ll come around.” He said. “Trust me.”

We arrived at my dorm just in time for Jisoo-eonni’s curfew. Jimin-oppa parked the car before walking me up to the door.

“Goodnight Galie.” He said.

“Goodnight oppa.”

As he began to walk away, I couldn’t help but call after him.

“Jimin-oppa!”

I ran up to him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for driving me around.”

I walked away before he could respond, my cheeks on fire from my actions. My mind was still replaying the kiss as I got into my bed and fell asleep.


	11. (BTS Cam) May the Best Man Win

It was still early in the morning when Kim Namjoon and Kim Seokjin called the maknae line of Bangtan Sonyeondan into the living room. The three boys who were sitting on the couch were in their pajamas, still a bit groggy and wanting nothing more than to go back to their rooms and sleep.

“We need to talk.” Namjoon told the boys sternly. Beside him, Jin stood with his arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face. The maknaes became nervous at this. Their hyungs were rarely ever this serious, and when they were it was usually about something really really bad that they have done.

“You know why you’re here.” Jin added. The boys looked down in shame. They _did_ know the reason why their hyungs wanted to talk to them.

It was exactly a week ago that Yoongi and Gale’s song had been released, and they had been promoting the song non-stop, which meant that Gale had been spending a lot more time with them.

It was mostly Jimin and Taehyung since for the most part Jungkook still didn’t talk to Gale. It started with actions such as getting Gale’s attention when she was clearly talking to the other, or never leaving her alone with another maknae. Even Jungkook would make sure to cough loudly whenever he felt like his noona was getting too close with one of his hyungs.

Namjoon though it was cute at first, seeing his dongsaengs compete for the attention of one girl, but then things escalated quickly. They started to argue over the littlest of things, like who would buy her lunch, or who should sit next to her. The peak of their fighting happened last night when Bang Shihyuk called the boys into his office to discuss what they wanted to do for their debut anniversary next year. The boys agreed that they should shoot MVs for each of their solo songs on the “Wings” album since ARMYs were always asking for it. Shihyuk suggested that since the fans went crazy over the video that Jin tweeted of Jimin and Gale dancing together, she should dance with Jimin in his “Lie” MV, to which of course he readily agreed, causing both Taehyung and Jungkook to protest in jealousy in front of their boss. They argued in the office about who deserved to work with her more, much to the horror of their hyungs. Shihyuk then decided to postpone all plans of the MV shootings until they cleared the issue.

“Answer me directly.” Namjoon demanded. “Do you like Gale?”

The maknaes looked at each other, unsure of what to say. They’ve never admitted to each other how they really felt about her.

“Of course hyung. She’s our friend.” Taehyung chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood. It didn’t work.

“That’s not what I meant.” Namjoon replied, trying to keep his patience. “Do you have any feelings for her?”

Seeing as none of the maknaes were going to admit anytime soon, Jin decided to ask them one by one.

“Jimin-ah?” He called, making the boy look up at him. Jimin licked his lips and ran his hands through his hair. He wanted very much to say no- that he was just very fond of Gale because it would make everything less complicated, but then he remembered how he would feel butterflies in his stomach whenever she would smile at him, or how he was captivated by every little thing that she did. He remembered how he felt like he could explode with happiness when she kissed him on the cheek a week ago and realized that he couldn’t lie to himself anymore.

“I-I do.” He admitted.

“Tae?” Jin continued. Taehyung thought about it for a while. He really didn’t know how he felt about their friend, so he just decided to be honest.

“I’m not sure,” he said, “but she makes me happy.”

“Jungkookie?” Jin asked the last boy. Jungkook’s face became tinged with pink. But to everyone’s surprise, he answered confidently.

“I like noona a lot.”

His answer angered both Taehyung and Jimin, making the two lash out at him.

“Then how dare you make her feel bad? Do you know that she thinks you hate her?” Jimin snapped. 

“Yeah Jungkook-ah! You’ve been ignoring her ever since we met her.” Taehyung added.

“I wasn’t ignoring her!” Jungkook defended. The three boys were now standing, looking like they were about to punch each other any second now.

“Then why do you-”

“This is the problem!” Jin roared in anger, cutting Jimin off. He had never been so disappointed in his dongsaengs before. “We all love Gale, but she’s tearing you guys apart!”

“Jin-hyung’s right.” Namjoon said. “If you continue to act like this, we’ll have no choice but to stay away from-”

“NO!” The three maknaes all shouted at once. They looked at each other, realizing how stupid they have been acting. They were more than just friends- they were brothers. No one should ever come in between them.

Jimin was the first to apologize.

“I’m sorry hyung. It’s just that I’ve never felt like this before.” He explained to Namjoon before turning to his dongsaengs. “I’m sorry Taehyungie, Jungkookie. I promise to be more mature from now on.”

The three boys all went in for a group hug.

“I’m sorry too Jiminie, Jungkookie.” Taehyung said, still hugging the two.

“I guess I’ll say sorry too…even though it was your guys’ fault anyways.” Jungkook joked, which caused his two hyungs to hit him playfully on the shoulder.

“Yah!”

“Jeon Jungkook!”

Namjoon and Jin smiled at each other.

“So everything’s okay now?” Jin clarified. The maknaes nodded their heads.

“But this doesn’t mean I’m giving up on her.” Jimin said. “Galie is a very special girl. I don’t think I’ll ever find someone like her again.”

“You’re going to have to wait a long time. BLACKPINK has a three-year dating ban.” Namjoon warned. Jimin just smiled at him before answering.

“She’s worth it hyung. Besides, she’s going to have to wait for me too for two years when I enlist for military service.”

“You’re getting overconfident Jiminie.” Taehyung chuckled. “Maybe it’s me she’s going to be waiting for.”

“Don’t count me out hyung. I want Gale-noona to see me as a man. The next time I see her I’m going to apologize for ignoring her and make it up to her.” Jungkook said with determination. Jimin looked at his dongsaeng with pride. Jungkook really has turned from a young boy into a man before his eyes. He was happy that Jungkook was taking command of his feelings and doing something about it, but that didn’t mean that he was going to go easy on the golden maknae- not when they were competing for Gale’s heart.

“Well, may the best man win.” Taehyung said. The three boys hugged each other again before Jin told them to get ready for breakfast as he started walking towards the kitchen.  They all went back to their respective rooms to change into their practice clothes before going back to the living room.

Everything was back to normal as the seven boys of Bangtan Sonyeondan ate their breakfast around the living room table.

“Jimin-hyung,” Jungkook said as he drank some water from his glass, “since Bang-PDnim did offer you the chance to work with Gale-noona first, I won’t complain anymore.”

Jimin smiled at his dongsaeng, appreciating the gesture.

“Me too Jiminie. You better not make me regret my decision. That MV should be the coolest MV ever!” Taehyung added. 

“How can it be cool? Jimin-hyung has no jams.” Jungkook teased. Jimin hit him again playfully.

“Yah!"


	12. (BTS Cam) Facing the Dragon

_So this is YG Entertainment._ Jimin mused.

The building looked intimidating from the outside with its grey exterior and geometric design, but the inside was strangely cozy. The paintings on the wall were weird and colorful, complementing the equally odd furniture nicely.

Jimin didn’t know where to go and considered approaching the receptionist, but she looked busy so he decided to wait until she hung up the phone. Instead he sat on the red sofa in the waiting area and pulled out his phone to re-read the text Gale sent him this morning.

**개일이 <3 (Galie):** _Good morning oppa! Did you sleep well? I’m going to be very busy today so I won’t be able to text you again until later._

_Would it be okay if we practice at YG today instead of at BigHit? We have a photoshoot until 7PM and it would take more time for me to go there after since we have to drop-off the girls first._

_Sorry for the hassle ㅜ.ㅜ I promise to buy you dinner to make it up to you!_

_See you later! Make sure to eat breakfast!_

Jimin thought about texting her to say that he was there already, but he didn’t want to bother her if she was still doing the photoshoot.

He was very happy that Bang-PDnim still allowed him to continue with the MV concept even after the little episode he had with Taehyung and Jungkook. They had just begun rehearsing yesterday. Gale went to BigHit to discuss the concept and learn the choreography. The concept of the video and the dance was that Gale was a snake disguised as a beautiful woman who was tempting him to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit- or something like that. Jimin himself wasn’t quite sure, but that’s what you get when your leader has an IQ of 148. Besides, he liked  the dance. It was technical but expressive, which showed off both of their skills.

Jimin was snapped out of his thoughts when someone sat next to him. It was girl about his age, with long, bleach-blonde hair. She started sobbing as soon as she sat down, making Jimin very uncomfortable. He didn’t know what to do. He looked around to see if anyone was looking at them but the receptionist, the security personnel, and the janitor who was dusting one of the paintings didn’t even spare them a glance.

 _Maybe this happens often_. He concluded. _Is she someone who just auditioned but got rejected? Or a trainee who just got dropped?_

She kept bawling next to him, seemingly oblivious to the boy sitting next to her. Eventually she seemed to have calmed down, but tears were still pouring out of her eyes.

 _Well, I can’t just ignore her_. Jimin thought. He fished his pockets to find his handkerchief and took it out once he finally got hold of it.

“Here.” He said as he handed it to the girl. She took it without a word and used it to wipe her eyes. Once she was done, she folded it and handed it back to him.

“Thanks.” She muttered, looking at him for the first time. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Y-you’re Park J-Jimin.”

“Yes I am.” Jimin smiled in response. “And you are?” 

The girl fixed her hair and sat up straight before answering.

“I’m Lee Hyerin. Nice to meet you oppa.”

_Oppa? Okay then. She must be an ARMY._

“Not that I’m asking you to leave, but why are you here in YG?” She asked as she moved closer to Jimin. He laughed uncomfortably before slightly inching away from her. Sometimes fangirls get a little bit too close.

“That’s a secret.” He replied. “I was actually wondering if you knew where Galie- um, I mean Gaeil-ssi is? If she’s here already?”

Hyerin’s expression immediately hardened at the mention of Gale’s name.

“Why are you looking for her?” She asked. It was obvious that she was trying to hide the disdain in her voice, but Jimin just let it slide. He must have been imagining it. No way anyone could have such intense dislike for Gale.

“That’s a secret too.” He replied politely. Suddenly his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and excused himself from Hyerin, who looked annoyed that someone interrupted their conversation. Jimin looked at the caller ID and couldn’t help but grin as he answered the call.

“Gale-ah?”

 _“Oppa!_ ” The voice on the other line said. The background was noisy, so Jimin could barely hear her, but he could almost imagine her smiling face as she talked with him on the phone. _“We’re just wrapping up here. We'll be on our way back to YG in a few. Are you there already?”_

“Yeah. I just arrived though.” He replied. He knew that if he said that he had been waiting for a while she would immediately start apologizing.

 _“Sorry if I’m running a bit late. You can go ahead to the practice room. Just ask anybody to show you where it is.”_ She said. Behind her there were sounds of heavy machinery being operated.

 _What kind of photoshoot are they doing?_ He thought to himself.

“Okay.” 

 _“See you soon oppa!”_ Gale said as she hung up. Jimin put his phone back in his pocket, then turned to ask Hyerin if she could kindly show him where the practice room was.

“Hey can you point me to-”

But she was already gone. Jimin didn’t even notice that she left. Luckily for him, the receptionist had finally finished with the call, so he walked up to the young woman sitting behind the desk and introduced himself.

“Excuse me. I’m Park Jimin from BTS. Cheon Gaeil told me to go to the practice room.”

A look of recognition flashed across the woman’s face as she stood up from her seat.

“Right. She said you were coming.” She said as she led him to the practice room. She opened the door and turned on all the lights before leaving Jimin alone.

“Thank you.” He called after her.

Jimin inspected the room he was in. Two of the walls were covered in huge mirrors, while one was covered with sound-proofing material. The floor was made from hard wood, and the lighting was warm. It was so different from BigHit’s practice room.

Having nothing else to do, Jimin decided to rehearse the dance by himself. He connected his phone to the speakers and started to feel the music. He went through the choreography, imagining that his dance partner was there with him.

The last notes of the song faded out and Jimin stood up from his final pose, which was kneeling on the ground. He stood there for a moment, catching his breath when he heard the sound of clapping.

There, standing in the doorway, was G-Dragon himself.

“That was excellent.” He said. Jimin just stood there in shock. G-Dragon, one of his idols, just complimented him. When he realized that his sunbae was waiting for a response, he forced himself to speak.

“T-thank you sunbaenim.” He managed to say. G-Dragon smiled at him, which gave him more confidence to talk.

“I’m Park Jimin from Bangtan Sonyeondan.” He introduced himself. G-Dragon looked at him for a second, analyzing his face before he chuckled.

“Ah, that’s why you look familiar. I’ve seen some of your MVs. I like your song _Blood Sweat & Tears_ a lot.”

Jimin felt like he was dreaming. First it was Gale, now G-Dragon. Next he’s going to find out that the President of the United States was a fan of BTS.

“So what brings you here in our territory?” G-Dragon asked jokingly.

“I’m shooting a new MV for my song, and Galie’s going to be in it.” Jimin explained. He didn’t notice that G-Dragon’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of Gale’s nickname. “She asked me if I could come here to practice our dance routine instead of her going to BigHit.”

“And do you like her?” 

Jimin’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the question. Meanwhile G-Dragon’s face had an innocent expression on it, like he didn’t just ask his hoobae something personal.

“P-pardon?”

“I don’t want to sound like an overprotective father here,” G-Dragon warned, getting closer to Jimin, “But you better not break her heart or we’re going to have a problem.”

“Oh no sir- um sunbaenim. We’re just friends.” Jimin gulped. G-Dragon looked like he didn’t believe him.

“But you don’t look like you just want to be friends.” He countered. 

 _Am I really that obvious!?_  Jimin scolded himself in his head. He didn’t even bother responding because he knew that his sunbae was going to see right through his lie the moment he tries to deny it.

Deciding that he had tortured the boy enough, G-Dragon broke his act and laughed at him.

“Relax, I was just kidding.” He said, patting Jimin at the back, who just chuckled nervously in response.

“Well, I’ll be going now. I’m expecting great things from you and your group, Jimin-ssi.”

G-Dragon was just about to exit the room when someone bumped into him.

“Jiyong-oppa? I thought you were going home?" Lisa asked her sunbae.

“I was just about to leave.” He told her. Lisa waved goodbye as he left.

“Alright, see you around!” She said, then she turned to Jimin who was still a bit shaken from the both meeting and being threatened (jokingly?) by G-Dragon.

“Jimin-ssi,” Lisa called, getting his attention. He shook the thoughts from his head before facing the maknae. “Gale-eonni is just taking a shower to remove all of this.”  It was then that Jimin just noticed that Lisa was shimmering- literally. She was covered from head to toe with glitter of different colors.

“She’ll be down in a few minutes.” She finished.

“Thank you for telling me Lisa. You can call me oppa by the way.” Jimin replied, making the maknae smile at him.

“Okay oppa. I’ll be going now.” She said as she left the room, leaving Jimin alone once again.

* * *

Hoobae - 후배 - opposite of sunbae, someone with less experience


	13. Dinner

I was surprised when I heard the sound of someone playing the piano from inside the practice room. I peeked through the glass window on the door and saw that Jimin-oppa was seated in front of the piano, playing with the keys.

I knocked on the door before entering. Jimin-oppa stood up from his seat and walked towards me.

“Sorry I took so long. That glitter was hard to remove.” I apologized. He just laughed as he greeted me with a hug.

“No problem. I didn’t wait long.” He said. I pulled away from him and walked towards the piano which he had left uncovered.

“So…you play?” I asked. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

“Not really. Yoongi-hyung just started teaching me.”

“Play for me?” I requested. He shook his head.

“I’m not very good.” 

“Please?” I pleaded, giving him my puppy dog eyes. He chuckled a bit before sitting down on the piano bench. 

He began playing a soothing melody. I could see in his face that he was in deep concentration. Sometimes his fingers would slip and he would end up pressing dissonant keys, and sometimes he would slow down a bit. Suddenly he just stopped and turned to me.

“That’s all I know for now.” He said. I clapped as I moved to sit next to him on the piano bench. He moved a bit to make room for me.

“That was a nice. Is that a new song you guys are working on?” I asked. He raised his shoulders in a shrug.

“I don’t know~” he sang. I bumped him with my shoulder playfully before I tried to recreate what he just played.

“You know, it would sound better if you play the octave.” I commented as I showed him. I pressed the exact same keys he did but added an eighth to complete the chord.

“Yoongi-hyung does that, but my hands are small.” He said as he spread out his hands to show me.

“Well, I can reach it,” I explained as I grabbed his wrist and spread my hand against his, “And I think my hands are smaller than yours.”

After a few seconds, I realized that our hands were still touching, so I tried to pull away, but then he intertwined his fingers with mine.

“Gotcha.” He said jokingly. I giggled at his childishness, hoping that he didn’t notice my blush, as I walked to the center of the practice room.

“Um, let’s start?”

* * *

“Whew, that was a good run.” I said as I lied down on the floor, exhausted. I looked to my right and saw that Jimin-oppa lied down as well. 

“You danced well oppa.” I complimented him. I was still amazed how good his technique was, considering he stopped training in this style years ago. 

He turned his head to me and shot me a wink.

“Only because my partner is amazing.”

We spent a few minutes just lying there and trying to catch our breaths. After a while, we both stood up.

“Well, I guess I’ll be going now. It’s getting late.” Jimin-oppa said. I checked my watch and saw that it was 11:14 PM.

“Wait! Do you want to have dinner first? I did promise that I’ll treat you.” I offered. He was about to reply when he was cut off by the sound of his growling stomach. I held in my laughter as his face turned red.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes.” I teased. He chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ll call the girls to see if they want to come.” I said as I took out my phone and called Rosé. It rang a few times before she finally answered.

_“Hello?”_

“Chaeyoungie? Jimin-oppa and I were just about to go have dinner. Would you guys like to join us?” I asked in English.

_“Sorry eonni, but we already ate-”_

_“- and we wouldn’t want to intrude on your date!”_ Jennie shouted from somewhere in the background. It was then that I figured out that I was on speaker phone.

“Yah!” I scolded, which made Jimin-oppa look at me questioningly. 

_“Yes, well tell us how it goes alright eonni? Bye!”_ Rosé said as she hung up. I turned to Jimin-oppa who still had a question mark on his face from my sudden outburst.

“They already ate, so I guess it’s just going to be us.” I explained, hoping that he’ll just drop it. Thankfully he did.

We gathered our things and turned off all the lights before leaving the practice room. We made our way through the now mostly deserted hallways of YG Entertainment and walked out of the building.

“Where do you wanna go?” Jimin-oppa asked. “It’s already pretty late. I’m not sure what restaurants are still open at this time of night.”

I racked my brain to think of a place where we could get dinner at this hour since I usually just ate at the YG cafeteria.

“Oh, I know!” I exclaimed as I grabbed his hand and began pulling him to the sidewalk.  “There’s a 24-hour diner just a few blocks from here.”

The two of us walked in silence, but this time it was a pleasant one- just two people enjoying each other’s company. I was enjoying the cool air on my face and just observing the buildings and scenery. Everything was coated with a thin blanket of snow. It was beautiful.

I felt someone looking at me so I turned my head and met Jimin-oppa’s eyes. He looked away as soon as I caught him staring.

“What?” I questioned. He shrugged it off as nothing, but I figured that he must have been wondering why I was smiling so much while walking.

“I’m a city girl.” I explained. “I love walking in busy streets and seeing beautiful lights.”

“Is Seoul like New York?” He asked. I smiled inwardly at his cute pronunciation of New York.

“In a way, I guess. Of course here everything’s in Korean, but it makes me miss my home less.” I replied.

“How about your parents, do you miss them?”

I stopped walking when I heard his question. The last time I had to talk about my parents was when I had to explain to my group why I didn’t make any phone calls home, or why I spent my vacation days at the dorm. 

It wasn’t a topic I liked to discuss.

“We…we don’t talk anymore.” I answered quietly, resuming my stride. Jimin-oppa must have noticed the change in my tone because he tried to change the topic.

“Well, I’m sure your friends back home miss you a lot.” He assured.

That didn’t make things better. But it was fine, it’s not like he knew.

“I didn’t have friends.” I told him. He looked at me in shock.

“I was a very different person before. You wouldn’t like me if you met me back then.” I confessed. 

“That’s impossible. You’re literally an angel.” He comforted, trying to make me feel better, but his question just brought up a lot of bad memories for me, so I just gave him a weak smile.

We arrived at the diner and sat at a booth at the back, away from people who might possibly turn our dinner into a dating scandal. The waitress got our orders and told us that she’ll be back in a few minutes with our food. I was still lost in my own thoughts when Jimin-oppa spoke.

“Gale-ah, I’m sorry if I made you upset.” He apologized. “I’m sorry for bringing it up. Let’s just talk about something else.”

I gave him a grateful smile, but I knew that I had to tell him sooner or later, especially since I value his friendship a lot. I just hoped that he would accept me like BLACKPINK did. 

“No. I want to tell you. So at least you’ll also know why you and the rest BTS mean so much to me.” I started. “Just promise me one thing? Promise me that you won’t hate me after I tell you my story?”

His face held a confused expression when I asked him, but nonetheless, he nodded.

The waitress came to our table and gave us our drinks- apple juice for me and Coke for him. We both thanked her as she left. I inhaled deeply, preparing myself for the emotional rollercoaster I was about to go on.

“I was born into a rich family. My father is a businessman and my mother was a famous ballerina. I’m their only child, which meant that they spoiled me rotten. Growing up, I got everything that I ever wanted. Toys, books, clothes- all of them. All I had to do was ask. Sometimes I didn’t even have to do that. In return, I tried to be the perfect daughter for my parents, even if they didn’t pressure me to be. I did everything they wanted me too.” I began, taking a sip of my drink. Jimin-oppa leaned forward, obviously interested in what I had to say.

“I started doing ballet when I was three. It was my mom who wanted me to dance. Since she retired from dancing when she married my dad, I guess it was her way of re-living her glory days.

“I was allowed to do other stuff too. I found out at an early age that I loved singing also, so I asked for proper vocal training. My parents agreed as long as I knew what my number one priority was.

“I didn’t mind that much- actually I enjoyed ballet. But the world of dance is very competitive, especially in New York City. Everyone is talented, everyone wants to be a star. You have to be extraordinary to even be spared a glance.”

“Because of that, I grew up highly competitive. I didn’t have time for friends, or boys. School and ballet were my life.” I chuckled bitterly at the thought. If only my past self could see me now, she would hate me for throwing away all of her hard work- all of those blisters and sprains, those sleepless nights and the back pains.

“It wasn’t that I was a bully or a mean girl, but in my mind either you were a person who could help me or you didn’t matter at all. If you could do nothing for me then you didn’t deserve my time.” I explained as I looked down, my voice hitching at the end. I was so embarrassed of myself that I didn’t even want to look at Jimin-oppa.

The waitress arrived again, this time with our food- jjajangmyeon, doenjang jjigae, galbi, and two bowls of rice. We thanked her again as she left.

I got some of the galbi and put it on top of my rice before continuing my story.

“It was the summer of 2014 when my life changed. It was when I first met you guys.”

Jimin-oppa looked at me in surprise. I chuckled at his expression as I proceeded to explain.

“It was the summer before my senior year in high school and I spent it in LA, attending a summer ballet workshop. One day after class, I overheard some of the girls talking about how some cute Asian guys were handing out flyers on the street, inviting people to attend their concert. They must have noticed me staring because one of the girls invited me to come along with them. I knew she just did it out of politeness.

“I didn’t know why, but I agreed to go. I didn’t know who was more surprised when I said yes- me, or them.” I said. I really had no idea why I said yes, but I’d like to think that it was because of fate.

“I didn’t like K-Pop back then. I was your typical pretentious rich girl who thought that anything aside from classical music, and maybe a little bit of musical theater, was beneath her. Add that to the fact that I could barely understand Korean since my parents didn’t bother teaching me properly. I just couldn’t understand why people were going crazy over it.

“When I arrived at the venue and saw the crowd of teenage girls there, I almost left immediately. I was in no mood to deal with shrieking fangirls. I was just about to walk out of the door when you guys started singing. I didn’t understand the lyrics, but something about your performance pulled me in, so I stayed.

“After two songs you introduced yourselves- I was particularly intrigued by the boy who was wearing a black muscle shirt and snapback, trying to look all cool and hip, yet he was standing in first position.” I teased, referring to his habit of standing with his heels together. Jimin-oppa hid his face in his hands, embarrassed that I brought it up, but smiling anyways. I took a spoonful of food and swallowed before continuing.

“Before I knew it, the concert was over. When I went home that night, I started looking up your videos. I kept telling myself that it was because I still didn’t understand why people go crazy over K-Pop, but looking back at it now, I knew that that was the night I officially became an ARMY.

“I fell deeper and deeper into the K-Pop black hole. I asked my parents to let me take Korean language classes, which surprised them greatly because I wasn’t interested before. In my free time, I found myself studying choreography from your MVs instead of practicing my ballet routines. In the shower, instead of singing arias, I would unconsciously be humming your songs instead.

“One day, I just realized that I wanted to be a part of your world. I wanted to become an idol. I wanted to sing and dance on stage with people who care about me- just like how you guys are. I wanted to tour the world and affect people with my music, just like how you did to me.” I told him. That’s why BTS meant so much to me. They’re the reason why I’m here. They made me realize my dream and gave me the courage to follow it. They saved me from a life of just following rules and not being truly happy.

“The day after I graduated from high school, I gathered up all of my courage and told my parents that I wanted to move to Korea and try my luck. That was also the day that my acceptance letter from The Royal Ballet School arrived.”

Jimin-oppa’s eyes widened when I mentioned the name of the prestigious school. He froze in mid-chew and there was food hanging from the side of his mouth. I chuckled and grabbed a tissue from the tissue holder to wipe it, which seemed to snap him out of his shock. 

“Well, long story short my parents made me choose between them and all of this. It’s pretty obvious what I chose. I can still remember my mom’s exact words. _“The moment you leave through those doors you’re no longer my daughter.”_ ” I said, imitating my mom’s cold demeanor. I felt the tears threatening to escape my eyes, but I just blinked them away.

“So they just disowned you like that?” He asked in a disbelieving tone. I could tell that he was beginning to get angry so I put my hand on top of his to calm him down, but I wasn’t going to lie to him.

“If only it were that simple.” I replied. “As soon as I left the room, I heard my mother call after me. I was so happy because I thought that they had changed their minds.”

“They didn’t, did they?” He questioned, although I knew that he already knew the answer. 

“They wanted me to sign a contract that would forbid me from talking bad about them and revealing their true identity unless needed. In return they paid for my ticket to come here and a month’s rent. That was the last time I ever heard from them.”

The waitress approached us again to refill our drinks and remove the empty plates from our table. She asked us if we wanted any dessert, so I ordered hotteok and bingsu for the both of us. When she left, I continued.

“The moment I arrived here I immediately auditioned for YG Entertainment. I wanted to audition for BigHit but they weren’t looking for female trainees then. A few days later I was invited to become a trainee. I moved into the dorm as soon as possible.

“Those first few weeks were hell for me. Although the YG dorms are nice, it was my first time living without someone to wash my clothes, or drive me around, or clean up after me.” I stopped, disgusted by my own words.

“Gosh, I was such a spoiled brat.” I groaned, dropping my head on the table. After a few seconds, I sat up properly, determined to finish. Jimin-oppa was still waiting patiently, looking at me attentively.

“I worked the hardest I had in my entire life during my trainee days. For the first time in my life, I was truly motivated, and not just doing something because it was expected of me. I found my purpose." I said, smiling lightly as I reminisced about the past two years.

“I didn’t notice it at first, but my personality also began to change. Without all of the unnecessary pressure I was putting on myself, I began opening up more. I made friends. My competitiveness was still there, but it was just the right amount this time. I changed for the better, at least I hope I did.

“Now here I am.” I finished. I waited for Jimin-oppa’s response, anxious to know what he thought of me now. 

Once again the waitress approached us, carrying our dessert. She put them in the center of the table, along with two small bowls and two teaspoons, before bowing and leaving us alone.

“Gale-ah,” Jimin-oppa said as he handed me one of the teaspoons. “What part of that story was supposed to make me hate you?”

I looked at him in shock. Did he not listen to what I just told him?

“I’m an ungrateful daughter who selfishly turned my back on my parents, who gave me everything, for my dream. I was someone who only valued people based on what they could do for me. I wasn’t a good person.” I explained, with every word my voice increased slightly in volume. I had to calm myself down and took deep breaths to keep myself from exploding. I didn’t realize that I was squeezing the teaspoon until I saw it bend at an unnatural angle, which caused me to quickly let go of it. Jimin-oppa noticed this and exchanged my teaspoon with his. I was about to protest, but then he licked it, giving me a triumphant smile, which morphed into a serious expression.

“You have to stop being so hard on yourself.” He told me. I looked away, still embarrassed. Jimin-oppa grabbed both of my hands, which made me look back at him.

“You _were_ those things.” He said, “But you’re also a hardworking idol who made her dreams come true by believing in herself enough to take the risk. You’re someone who was brave enough to acknowledge that there was something wrong with you and changed it. You’re an inspiration to millions of people who you make happy just by being yourself.”

I felt the tears coming on again, this time because of happiness, so I reached for the tissues, but Jimin-oppa beat me to it, wiping my tears as they fell down my cheeks.

“You’re a humble, kind girl who can make anyone fall in love with her with just one smile.” He continued. I smiled at his words, which made him smile back.

“See? I’m in love already.” He joked, which made me laugh. He wiped away the last of my tears as I continued to giggle.

“Well, I don’t know about that last part, but thank you oppa.” I said sincerely. I didn’t know why I thought that Jimin-oppa was going to turn his back on me. He wasn’t the type of person to judge someone based on their past, and I loved that about him.

We finished the rest of our dessert talking about lighter topics. He told me stories about the boys and I told him stories about the girls. We even made plans to set up some of our members, but ultimately decided against them, since we wanted them to fall in love naturally. We did bet though who we thought were going to get together.

When we were done, I paid the bill and we walked back to YG. Jimin-oppa walked me up to my dorm room door, where he wished me a good night and sweet dreams.

That night, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

* * *

Jjajangmyeon - 짜장면 - noodles in black bean sauce

Doenjang Jjigae - 된장 찌개 - soy bean paste soup

Galbi - 갈비 - marinated ribs

Hotteok - 호떡 - filled pancakes

Bingsu - 빙수 - shaved ice dessert


	14. (VLive) Gale is Alone~ Guess Where I Am ㅇㅅㅇ

_1:21 PM_

_Gale is alone~ Guess where I am ㅇㅅㅇ_ _has just started!_

_A girl appears on camera, her face close to the lens. She was wearing little to no makeup, but her face was still beautiful. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she was wearing a white shirt with a huge print in the middle and black shorts._

“Hello, can you guys hear me?” Gale asked. She rarely did VLives by herself so she wasn’t really a hundred percent sure how everything worked. When the comments told her that the audio was working, a smile broke on her face.

“Okay, good!” She cheered.

“Hi everyone! Can you guess…” Gale trailed off as she finally moved away from the camera so that the background could be seen. She spun her phone around, showing the viewers a bright room with mirrors all around and a hard, wooden floor. There were speakers mounted on the walls and a small glass window on the door.

“…where I am?” She finished as she sat down with her back facing the door. She adjusted the selfie stick she was using so that her phone was angled perfectly.

Gale read the comments to see if anyone had already guessed her location correctly. Some people did, but they weren’t sure and were asking for hints.

“Nope, no hints.” She chuckled. “Come on guys, this is easy!”

Gale kept on reading the comments, amused by everyone’s guesses, so instead of telling them where she was, she decided to keep it a mystery for now.

“Okay, just keep guessing in the comments and I’ll tell you guys later.” She said as she leaned back a bit. “Anyways, I’m here because I’m waiting for someone. While that person’s not here yet, let’s hang out for a bit. You guys can ask me questions, or request songs for me to sing. I’ll try to do as much as I can.”

_“How are you doing today?”_ She read from the screen. “I’m doing really good, thank you for asking. These past few weeks have been amazing actually. Thank you guys for the all-kill on mine and Yoongi-oppa’s song!”

Released just over a week ago, “Love the Way You Lie” was a major hit and topped all of the charts in South Korea. It got both Gale and Yoongi more recognition as not just talented performers, but as artists, which made both of them very happy.

_“Where are the other members of BLACKPINK? Please show them.”_

This was one of the reasons why Gale rarely did VLives by herself. She knew that she shouldn’t take it personally when some fans asked for other members because it was natural for them to want to see their bias on screen, but it still hurt a bit to think that she wasn’t enough to keep the people watching happy. Was it because she wasn’t as cool as Jennie? Or as bubbly as Lisa? Or as adorable as Rosé? Or as charismatic as Jisoo? Or was it because her Korean still needed some work?  Her insecurities were gnawing at the back of her mind, but she just shook them off.

“They’re back at YG. Yang-sajangnim is encouraging them to start working on solo projects too since I’ve already had mine.” She answered. “Be sure to watch out for those and support them also.”

Gale then stretched her legs, getting tired of sitting cross-legged. She readjusted her phone before she continued reading comments.

_“Sing “Problem” by Ariana Grande please.”_ She read. “Sure.”

Gale cleared her throat a bit and sat up straight as she sang the beginning of the song.

_“_ _Hey baby, even though I hate ya_  
I wanna love ya  
I want you  
And even though I can't forgive ya  
I really want to  
I want you  
Tell me, tell me baby  
Why can't you leave me  
Cause even though I shouldn't want it  
I gotta have it  
I want you

_Head in the clouds_  
Got no weight on my shoulders  
I should be wiser  
And realize that I've got”

She smiled as she hit the high note. It’s been a while since she sang out like that, and it felt good to know that she was still able to belt with ease.

“I’ll stop there.” She said. All of the comments were praising her for her vocal clarity and power which made Gale’s heart swell.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” She said as she stood up and curtsied. She laughed at her own silliness as she sat back down.

She was still reading the comments when one in particular caught her eye.

_“Jungkook?”_ Gale found it extremely odd that someone would just type Jungkook’s name out of nowhere.  “Huh? Why are you asking about Jungkookie?”

She kept reading, hoping to get some context.

“What? He’s behind me?” She read, confused. Gale turned around but there was no one there.

“Jungkook-ah?” She called. After a few seconds of no response, Gale was almost sure that everyone was just playing a joke on her, but then someone peeked from the glass panel on the door.

Jungkook opened the door and walked in. He was just wearing casual clothes and no makeup. Halfway inside, he finally noticed the phone and realized that Gale was doing a VLive. He turned around, changing his mind, but decided against it. He made a promise that the next time he saw his noona, he was going to make things right with her, and Jeon Jungkook does not break his promises. He just wasn’t expecting that he had to do it in front of a live audience.

When he finally reached her, he sat down next to her and greeted the people who were watching.

“Annyeong, how’s everyone doing?”

“Hi Jungkookie, what are you doing here?” Gale asked him. She was smiling, but he could see that she was uncomfortable with the situation. They haven’t been alone with each other since the night “Love the Way You Lie” was released, and that hadn’t gone too well.

“I was just passing by when I heard noona singing.” He explained. Gale turned to him and bowed in apology.

“Was I too loud? I’m sorry.”

“No, you were amazing.” Jungkook complimented. Gale blushed at the unexpected compliment and gave him a smile- a genuine one this time.

“Oh, thank you Kookie.”

Then, there was the all-too-familiar awkward silence. The two of them were just sitting there, unsure of what to do next. The comments were all requesting them to sing together, but both of them didn’t even know how to talk to the other, let alone sing with each other, so they just kept quiet.

Gale prayed to the gods that someone would request something else, or at least change the topic. It wasn’t that she hated Jungkook. Actually, she felt like she was too harsh on him. She just thought that it wasn’t the best for the two of them to be doing this right now.

“I want to say something.” Jungkook said, breaking the silence. Gale turned to face him, having no idea what was going through his mind. Jungkook took a deep breath and gathered all of his courage.

“You see guys, I haven’t been the nicest person to noona.” He began. “I’ve been ignoring her, not talking to her when she hangs out with BTS, not even looking at her.”

Gale’s eyes widened at Jungkook’s words. What was he doing? His reputation might suffer because of this. She put her hand on Jungkook’s arm to stop him from saying more, but instead he took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. He looked up shyly from underneath his bangs, as if asking his noona if she was okay with it. When Gale smiled lightly, Jungkook continued.

“It’s not because I hate her- far from it actually. I admire Gale-noona a lot. I just didn’t want to risk embarrassing myself in front of her, like I did when we first met.”

Jungkook then turned to face Gale and looked her directly in the eyes.

“So I want to apologize, Gale-noona. Sorry for the way I’ve been acting. I hope we can start over again.” He said sincerely.

“Aw, baby!” Gale cooed in English as she tackled him into a hug. She wasn’t able to contain herself. Jungkook’s cuteness was too much for her to handle.

The two of them fell down because of Gale’s unexpected hug, which caused them to burst out laughing. They were still lying on the floor when the door opened and two people walked in.

“Galie!” Taehyung greeted. Gale immediately got up from the floor and jumped into his open arms.

“Tae-oppa!” She squealed as Taehyung twirled her around twice before finally setting her down gently. When the pair finally pulled apart, Taehyung clutched his chest.

“Ah, my heart!” He exclaimed. A look of panic immediately appeared on Gale’s face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked the boy. She looked at Jungkook for help, but he just rolled his eyes at his hyung’s antics.

“Your shirt,” Taehyung said, which confused Gale. She looked down at her shirt, which was a white, round-neck shirt with “Gucci” printed in the middle. Then she noticed the shirt that Taehyung was wearing, which was identical to hers.

“My type of girl.” Taehyung teased as he shot her a wink.

“It kind of hurts that you’re just ignoring me.” Jimin said from behind Taehyung. Gale turned her attention to him, worried that she actually offended him, but when she saw his smiling face, she knew that he was just joking.

“Ugh, my boys are so needy.” She complained jokingly, but then moved towards the Jimin and hugged him tightly.

Gale went back to her original place next to Jungkook, remembering that she was in the middle of a broadcast. Taehyung and Jimin followed, sitting down on the floor as well.

“Sorry about that everyone.” She apologized to her viewers, although no one was complaining. The comments were all about how cute they were all acting.

“Well, it’s already obvious, but yeah, I’m in BigHit’s practice room.” Gale told the viewers. “I was waiting for Jimin-oppa, but since he’s already here, I guess I’ll have to end this broadcast.”

Everyone expressed their disappointment in the comments, wishing that they could stay longer.

“Alright, I can’t resist you guys.” Gale told the viewers. “Do we have time for one more question?” She asked the boys.

“Bang-PDnim said that he’ll be down in a minute. But he’s not here yet." Jimin answered.

“Perfect! Okay, so…” Gale paused as she tried to pick a question from the rapidly moving comments section. It was moving way too fast for her to read and understand the ones which were written in Hangul, so the moment she saw one which was typed in English, she read it out loud.

_“Would you rather date Jimin, Taehyung or Jungkook?”_

Everyone froze as soon as the words left her mouth. The boys looked at each other, while Gale hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment.

“I don’t think I should answer this.” She muttered through her fingers.

“Why not?” Taehyung asked. This could settle the boys’ little competition once and for all. At least they would hear the answer from Gale herself.

“Well, for one it’s going to be so awkward since I know you guys.” Gale replied, finally raising her head. “And also I don’t want to be hunted down by your fans.”

“No one’s going to do that!” Jimin assured her. Gale looked at him skeptically.

“You guys love Galie, right?” He asked the camera. The viewers all agreed with him and sent words of encouragement.

“Come on, it’s just for fun.” Taehyung said. “We promise to not get offended or anything.”

“Yeah noona, I promise that Jimin-hyung and V-hyung won’t get mad when you tell them that you like me the best.” Jungkook comforted, half-joking. Both of his hyungs slapped him on both shoulders.

“Yah!” Jimin and Taehyung scolded simultaneously.

“What are you talking about Jungkookie?” Taehyung said as he put his arm around Gale’s shoulders. “I mean we’re already wearing couple shirts.”

“Are you two forgetting that she came here for me?” Jimin responded as he removed Taehyung’s arm and replaced it with his own.

“Well, it’s going to be hard to choose, since these three are _so mature_.” Gale teased. She just attributed the boys' actions to their playfulness and competitiveness. Little did she know that there were actually some meaning behind their words.

“No seriously though,” she continued, “these three right here are the type you would want to bring home to meet your parents. They’re all handsome, charming and successful young men, but there’s so much more to them than just that.”

Gale looked at the maknae, who was looking back at her with eager eyes.

“Jungkookie is perfect in every way. He’s not called the golden maknae for nothing. To be honest, I haven’t gotten to know him that well yet, but I’m excited to get closer to him.” She said. Jungkook blushed at her words. He was excited to get to know her more too.

“And I like it when boys call me noona.” She finished, winking at Jungkook. The boy choked on his own saliva, but luckily he was able to disguise it as a cough.

_At least I didn’t make that awful sound, unlike last time._ He thought.

Gale then turned to Taehyung, who was smiling brightly at her.

“Tae-oppa is always the first to greet me whenever I meet the boys. He’s really playful and friendly, plus I know that he’s great with kids. I feel like if I go out with him I’ll never have a boring day again, and he can be serious when he wants to be.” She giggled. Taehyung grinned, happy that she thought of him like that, but Gale wasn’t finished yet.

“And his voice oh god. I think I’d melt if he serenaded me.” She gushed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. Taehyung stiffened for a millisecond before relaxing and leaning his head on top of hers. Most people didn’t really pay attention to his vocals, and only saw him as the 4D member of BTS, but it made him ecstatic to know that she saw him as something more than just the weird one in the group.

Gale removed her head from Taehyung’s shoulder and sat up properly as she turned to the last boy in the room. She intentionally left Jimin for last because she knew that it would be the hardest for her to articulate her feelings for him without turning into a babbling mess- even when it was just for fun.

“Jimin-oppa…” She began. “Jimin-oppa understands me in a way that only a few people do. He knows how to make me laugh, he knows how to cheer me up and comfort me. He-” Gale paused for a moment to clear her throat. “He makes me happy just by being my friend.”

Gale was facing the camera as she said this because she knew she wouldn’t have been able to do it while looking into Jimin’s eyes, but if she were, she would have seen the fondness and admiration practically flowing out of the boy. There was something else too- was it love?

_No, not quite._ Jimin told himself. _Not yet, but close._

“Not to mention he’s the best dance partner I’ve ever had.” Gale finished. All three boys were now almost bouncing with excitement and anxiousness as they awaited her answer.

“All of them are really special to me, but if I have to pick one, I guess I’ll go with-”

The door suddenly opened and Bang-PDnim walked in, followed by two of BigHit’s senior choreographers.

“Ah, Gale-ah!” He greeted.

“Good morning Bang-PDnim.” She responded. Gale silently thanked the high heavens for his timely entrance. He just saved her from a very awkward position. She then turned to her phone.

“Well, we have to go now everyone, I’ll see guys again real soon!” She said as she waved goodbye. The three boys also waved to their audience, both disappointed and relieved that Gale wasn’t able to answer.

_Gale is alone~ Guess where I am ㅇㅅㅇ has just ended._


	15. Christmas

I never cared for Christmas when I was younger. For me, it was just like any other day, aside from the excessive decorations and jingles. I never got excited about Christmas gifts because I got whatever I wanted whenever I wanted them. And it wasn’t like my parents were around to spend the day with me. The Christmases we did spend together, we would usually attend rich-people parties or charity balls, which even though were for good causes, tended to be very boring.

The only real Christmas I’ve had so far was last year’s. Most of YG’s staff had to stay for the holidays to prepare for the next year’s activities. To reward everyone’s hard work and dedication, Yang-sajangnim decided to throw a Christmas party. It was the first time I truly felt the holiday spirit, surrounded by friends who treated me like family. Sure, I didn’t get as many gifts, nor were they expensive, but the fact that my friends- most of whom were trainees with no source of income yet- even bothered to buy something for me, meant the world.

After experiencing what a real Christmas was like, I hoped that every Christmas that would follow would be the same, but when I woke up this morning, the 25th of December 2016, everything was quiet. Lisa and Rosé had flown back to their home countries two days ago and Jisoo-eonni and Jennie went to their homes yesterday. It was the first time I was alone in our dorm and I didn’t like the feeling.

I sluggishly got out of my bed and walked towards the bathroom where I took a long, hot shower. Once I was done, I got out and got dressed. I made some toast and sliced an apple for breakfast, which I ate with a glass of milk before heading down to the practice room. I decided that since I had nothing better to do, I should just rehearse the choreography for “Lie”.

I turned on all the lights in the practice room as I entered. I connected my phone to the speakers, played the song and got into position.

My body moved to the music almost involuntarily- as if every muscle in my body has already memorized every move and what would come next.

_“Don’t be like a prey_

_Be smooth like a like a snake”_

In this part of the song, I’m supposed to stand behind Jimin-oppa and pretend to whisper the lyrics in his ear. The choreographer insisted that we get as close as possible during this scene and wanted my lips to be almost touching his ear, while my right hand was running up and down his arm and my left hand entangling itself into his hair.

This was the one part of the dance that I couldn’t do properly. I would always get flustered and wouldn’t be able to project the proper emotion. I had to look seductive and alluring, but I’m pretty sure I looked the opposite of that despite the assurance of the choreographer- which was a shame because I prided myself on being a total professional when it came to dance. I’ve been dancing since I was three, and after seventeen years of dancing I thought that nothing could faze me at this point. I’ve had a lot of dance partners before. I’ve even had to kiss some of them on stage for some of the roles I had to play, and I’ve always done my part perfectly. Those handsome boys had no effect on me at all.

But Jimin-oppa…

He’s _different._

Even when he’s not around, I find myself thinking about him. I always look forward to every text, every call, every time that I’ll get to see him. I get so happy whenever he smiles at me or compliments me- heck, my heart would flutter whenever he’d just look at me.

I knew that my simple crush on him had grown into something else, something that it was never supposed to be. I don’t think it’s love- not yet anyways, but I knew that if things keep going the way they are right now, I would find myself completely in love with him.

I know that it’s bad if I do fall in love with him. It would make things complicated. The best thing would just be to stay away.

But I can’t.

The music was suddenly interrupted by a loud beeping noise, telling me that I got a text message. I disconnected my phone from the speakers and unlocked it.

 **Jiji-oppa:** _Where are you?_

Why was Jimin-oppa texting me at six o’ clock in the morning asking me where I was? I was confused by his text, but still answered.

 **To Jiji-oppa:** _I’m at YG, why?_

My phone buzzed again as Jimin-oppa replied.

 **Jiji-oppa:** _Why are you in YG?! I’ve been waiting for you for thirty minutes!_

 **To Jiji-oppa:** _Um, what?_

 **Jiji-oppa:** _I’m sooo hungry. Hurry up._

 **To Jiji-oppa:** _You want me…to buy food for you?_

 **Jiji-oppa:** _That’s why I sent you out in the first place Jihyunie!_

I laughed out loud when I received the text. Jimin-oppa must still be sleepy since he didn’t realize that he was texting me.

 **To Jiji-oppa:** _I think you’re texting the wrong person oppa ㅋㅋㅋ_

A few seconds after I sent the text, my phone rang. I accepted the call and immediately heard Jimin-oppa’s voice.

 _“I’m so sorry Galie. I thought I was texting my brother.”_ He apologized. I giggled at how cute he sounded.

“It’s fine oppa.” I replied.

 _“Merry Christmas!”_  He greeted.

“Merry Christmas to you too.” I chuckled. “So, your brother’s here in Seoul?”

 _“Yeah, instead of me going to Busan, my family flew here for the holidays. Mom and dad had to go back this morning though, so it’s just me and Jihyunie. Our parents will be back on the 27 th.” _He explained. _“What about you? What are your plans for today?”_

“Nothing really. I might go to the park later, but I’m not yet sure.” I told him.

 _“You mean you’re alone?!”_ He exclaimed.

“Well, yeah. Jisoo-eonni and Jennie both invited me to spend Christmas with them and their families, but I didn’t want to intrude.”

_“You can’t be alone on Christmas Day!”_

“I’ll be fine.” I assured him. It wasn’t like this was the first time I was going to be alone during the holidays.

_“No. I’m coming over.” He argued. “You’re spending Christmas with me.”_

“Oh no oppa, I couldn’t possibly-”

 _“Pretty please?”_ He begged. I could almost imagine him pulling a puppy dog face.

“I don’t think your brother would appreciate it if you bring a random girl with you.” I said. I imagine it would be awkward for him if I came along since he didn't know me.

 _“You’re not just any girl, Galie.”_ Jimin-oppa replied. My heart skipped a beat at his words. _“And, he will love you! My little brother’s actually huge BLACKPINK fan. He’s going to flip when I introduce you to him.”_ He chuckled. _“So please, will you spend Christmas with us?”_

“If it's not too much trouble." I agreed, caving in.

 _“Awesome! I’ll pick you up as soon as Jihyunie comes back. We’re going to Lotte World so dress comfortably! See you soon!”_ He said.

“Wait oppa-”

But he had already hung up. I made my way back to my dorm room where I took another shower to get rid of all the sweat. After which I got dressed, put my hair up in a ponytail, put on some light make-up, and grabbed my coat and my bag before heading down to the lobby to wait.

After a few minutes, Jimin-oppa walked in with a big smile on his face. I smiled back as I walked up to him and gave him a hug.

“Galie, you look beautiful.” He said as we pulled apart. I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.” He replied with a charming smile.

Then, someone coughed from behind me. I turned around and saw a boy wearing a grey hoodie. My eyes widened when I saw his face, and funnily enough, his expression mirrored mine.

Oh my god there’s two of them.

“Jihyunie, come here.” Jimin-oppa called the boy, who then walked towards him. “Gale-ah, this is my younger brother, [Park Jihyun](https://i.imgur.com/vSb7arA.jpg).”

“It’s nice to meet you noona.” He greeted with a smile on his face. His eyes turned into half-moons on his face and his voice was almost the same as Jimin-oppa’s. He looked exactly like a younger version of his hyung.

“Nice to meet you too, Jihyun-ah.” I smiled back at him.

“Jimin-hyung has told me a lot about you." He said.

“All good things, I hope." I replied jokingly.

“Of course," he chuckled. "The way he talks about you, seems like you were his girlfriend."

“And that's enough Jihyunie." Jimin-oppa interrupted with a nervous laugh.

The three of us walked out of the building and got into a black car which was parked near the exit. Jimin-oppa opened the passenger-side door for me, then got into the driver’s seat while Jihyun sat at the back.

“Jihyun-ah, your brother told me that you’re a BLINK?” I asked him, turning around in my seat after I put in my seatbelt as Jimin-oppa began driving out of the parking lot.

“Of course! Everyone in my class is a BLINK!” He replied with a huge smile on his face.

“Really?” I said. “That’s great, thank you!”

Jihyun then leaned forward, so that his face was in between mine and Jimin-oppa’s seat.

“You dance so well noona! I love your voice too~” he complimented, making me blush. This boy’s going to be a heartbreaker in the future.

“Thank you Jihyunie.” I told him, pinching his cheek. He just gave me a cute smile.

“Am I your bias then?” I teased. Jihyun coughed before leaning back on his seat.

“I don’t have a bias yet, but I don’t think Jimin-hyung would want to share you with me.” He answered. I was about to jokingly tease the two of them when Jimin-oppa threw Jihyun a serious look.

“She’s mine Jihyunie.” He said. As soon as the words left his mouth, his cheeks reddened and he began stuttering. I, on the other hand, looked at him wide-eyed and froze in shock.

“I-I meant she’s my bias.” He clarified. I looked away, trying to hide my own blush.

Everyone was silent for a while, until Jihyun asked a question that made Jimin-oppa slam the brakes in surprise.

“Noona,” he called, making me turn to face him, “Are you and hyung dating?”

“Yah! Park Jihyun!” Jimin-oppa scolded his dongsaeng.

“I’m guessing that’s a no then.” He chuckled.

“Nope.” I answered. I might have just imagined it, but I thought that I saw something flash across Jimin-oppa’s face- a look of disappointment?

“But your brother is a very important person to me. I don’t know what I’ll do without him.” I continued. Jimin-oppa glanced at me from the corner of his eyes, smiling as he grabbed my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine.

“You’ll never have to think about that Galie.” He said, “You’ll always have me.”

“Uh-huh, sure. Totally not a couple.” Jihyun teased. Jimin-oppa shot daggers at him through the rear-view mirror.

“Yah!”

* * *

We spent the day going around Lotte World and riding the different rides. We also saw the different attractions and shows that the amusement park had to offer. I couldn’t contain my laughter when the three of us got on the “Pharoah’s Fury”. While we were lining up, both boys were bragging about how they weren’t scared at all by the ride, but as soon as it started, Jihyun, who was sitting to my left, and Jimin-oppa, who was sitting on my right, immediately clung to my arms as they both screamed for dear life. It was honestly one of the funniest and cutest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

It was now 9:00 PM, and we were currently in the food court inside the park. I was sitting on our table, guarding our things while Jimin-oppa and Jihyun were buying food.

While waiting for them, I decided to check my phone since I haven’t looked at it all day. When I saw that I received texts, I tapped on the notifications and read through them.

 **Jennini Panini:** _CHEON GAEIL I MISS YOU_ _ㅠ.ㅠ Are you sure you don’t want me to drop by later? My parents wouldn’t mind if you stayed over tonight. Anyways, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Watch out for random mistletoes!!!_

지추 언니 (Jichu-eonni): _Galieee happy holidays~ Please don’t set the dorm on fire while we’re gone!!!_

 **Baby Kookie:** _Merry Christmas! I hope you have lots of fun today noona~ But don’t do anything “too fun” because I’m not there to protect you if anything goes wrong. I’ll give you your gift the next time I see you ^.~_ _Don’t miss me too much okay?_

 **Saxophonist Star:** _Merry Christmas Cheonsa!!! I miss you already :((( I wish you were here with me <3 I’ll take you to see all the beautiful sights in Daegu! Maybe next time? ㅋㅋㅋ *(^o^)*_

 **양 사장님 (Yang-sajangnim):** _Happy holidays girls! I hope you enjoy your vacation. See you next year._

I looked up from my phone to see if Jimin-oppa and Jihyun were back with the food, but they were nowhere to be seen, so I took the time to I reply to everyone who texted me.

 **To Jennini Panini:** _MERRY CHRISTMAS JENNINI!!! I miss you too_ _ㅠㅠ_ _I actually already have plans for today- WAIT DON’T GET MAD I promise I’ll tell you everything when you come back! Tell your folks I said hi!!!_

 **To 지추 언니 (Jichu-eonni):** _OMG EONNI I’M SO SORRY_ _ㅠㅠ_ _I already burnt the place to the ground before I read your text ㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋ Happy holidays to you too!!!_

 **To Baby Kookie:** _Merry Christmas Kookie <3 I miss you so much it hurts ㅋㅋㅋ (seriously though, I miss you guys _ _ㅜ.ㅜ ) Don’t worry OPPA, I promise I’ll stay safe ㅋㅋㅋ I hope you’re having fun there too :) I left your gift in your dorm already so it should be waiting for you when you come back. I hope you love it ㅇㅅㅇ_

 **To Saxophonist Star:** _Merry Christmas Tae-oppa! I miss you too <3 I’ve always wanted to go to Daegu~~~ When we get time off let’s explore the city together!_

 **To 양 사장님 (Yang-sajangnim):** _Happy holidays too boss!!! See you next year!!!_

I heard footsteps approaching me and looked up to see Jimin-oppa carrying a tray with three gigantic burgers and fries.

“Jihyunie’s coming with the drinks and dessert. He just ran into some friends.” He told me, noticing that I was looking for Jihyun. I looked over his shoulder and saw his brother, carrying a tray with three cups of soda and three ice cream sundaes, talking to two guys and three girls, all of whom were sneaking glances in our direction.

“They’re contemplating whether or not to approach you and ask for a picture.” Jimin-oppa explained as he sat down and handed me my food.

“Me? I think they want to take a picture with you. I mean, you are BTS’ Park Jimin.” I joked, but Jimin-oppa shook his head.

“No, Jihyunie’s friends have already seen me before.” He said, taking a french fry and putting it in his mouth. “It’s you they want to take a picture with.”

I looked up again and saw that they were still staring at us, looking unsure. I gave Jihyun a smile, indicating that it was okay for his friends to join us if they wanted to. Upon seeing this, Jihyun pulled his friends towards the direction of our table.

“Hello, you’re all friends with Jihyunie?” I asked the group. They all nodded shyly as one girl took out her phone.

“Gale-eonni,” She said, “Can we take a picture with you?”

“Of course!” I agreed as I stood up. We all compressed together as Jimin-oppa took our picture. When he gave the phone back to the girl, she squealed in delight.

“Do you want to join us?” I asked them. They all looked at each other before nodding eagerly then sitting down. I pushed my fries over to the girl who was sitting next to me, allowing her to get some if she wanted to.

We had fun talking while we were eating. Jihyun’s friends were really nice and quite mature for their age. They asked me questions about my members and about our next comeback, and they told me stories about school and their personal lives.

“Hyung, noona,” Jihyun said as he ate the last of his fries. “I was wondering if I could go hang out with them after we eat? Not that I’m not having fun with you two-”

“Sure Jihyunie. Just be back at the hotel before midnight.” Jimin-oppa replied while I nodded my head. Jihyun smiled brightly at his hyung.

“Thanks!”

Eventually, we finished our food and stood up to leave. Jihyun and his friends said their goodbyes to us and we did the same. The girl I sat next to, whose name was Yeoju, hugged me before she walked away with the rest of the group.

“You and oppa look good together eonni.” She whispered in my ear. I was about to object but they were already far away.

Jimin-oppa and I walked out of the food court and just wandered around aimlessly.

“We have time for one more ride before the fireworks show. What do you want to do?” He asked me. I was about to shrug my shoulders, not really having anything specific in mind, when I saw the Ferris wheel in the distance.

“What about we ride the Ferris wheel?” I suggested. “We can watch the fireworks from there.”

We made our way to the Ferris wheel which was on the other side of the park. The line wasn’t that long so we didn’t have to wait a long time before we reached the front.

“This Ferris wheel cabin is reserved for couples only. Are you two a couple?” The operator asked us. I was startled by his question, but still, I opened my mouth to answer.

“No-”

“Yes we are! Come on jagiya!” Jimin-oppa cut me off, pulling me into the cabin. My eyes widened in surprise, but I didn’t have time to react. As soon as the doors closed, he let go of my hand and sat next to me.

“Sorry about that.” He apologized, “but we were going to miss the fireworks show if we waited for the next one.”

“Oppa, if you wanted to be my boyfriend you could’ve just said so~” I teased him, making Jimin-oppa was blush like crazy, but he also looked like he wanted to say something. However, he was interrupted when the fireworks display started.

Different colors lit up the night sky. There were reds and greens and yellows and blues, but what made it more special was the person I’m spending with. I leaned my head on Jimin-oppa’s shoulder as we watched the fireworks in silence.

“That was amazing.” I whispered when it was over, “Thank you oppa, for asking me to come with you today.”

“Anything for you, jagiya.” He said. My head was still on his shoulder so I removed it, only to find him staring at me. I averted my eyes from his face and stared at the ceiling, trying to surpress the giddiness I was feeling inside.

_He’s just joking Gale. Stop acting like a schoolgirl._

“Oh.” I muttered. “Now I know why this cabin was reserved for couples only.”

“Why?” Jimin-oppa asked curiously.

I looked up at the ceiling of the ride again, and this time, he followed my gaze.

There, hanging in the middle, was a mistletoe.

* * *

Cheonsa - 천사 - Angel


	16. (BTS Cam) The 26th Seoul Music Awards

“The “New Artist Award” goes to…BLACKPINK!”

The seven boys of BTS rose up from their seats and cheered as loudly as they could when the five girls of BLACKPINK went up the stage to get their award.

“Thank you very much for this award, we’re really grateful to be able to get a once in a lifetime award like this.” Rosé said into the microphone. The boys sat back down to listen to the speech, however, Jungkook was staring intently at Gale.

“Hyung,” he called, getting Taehyung’s attention. “Look at Gale-noona.”

“I know Jungkookie, she looks like an angel.” Taehyung answered.

“No, I meant…doesn’t she look a bit sick?”

Taehyung looked at Gale again. Yes, she looked beautiful, but Jungkook was right. She looked like she lost some weight and despite the smile on her face, she looked like she was going to pass out. He also noticed that Jennie and Jisoo were standing on either side of her, looking like they were helping her stand up.

“I think she is.” Taehyung agreed. Jimin noticed that Taehyung and Jungkook were talking, so he moved his seat closer to them.

‘What are you guys talking about?” He asked them.

“Galie…” Taehyung trailed off. Jimin looked at his dongsaeng in confusion, but when he looked back to the girl on the stage, he understood.

The last time Jimin saw Gale was Christmas night. It was now the 2nd of February. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her since then because of their busy schedule, but obviously something has happened between then and now.

“We need to talk to her.” Jimin told the two, who both nodded in agreement.

“And of course to our fans, BLINKs, we’re always thankful. We’ll work harder in the future to give back the love and support we’ve received.” Rosé finished her speech. The members of BLACKPINK then bowed and waved as they started walking off the stage to prepare for their performance.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, BLACKPINK will be performing after a twenty-minute break.” A voice announced. The maknae line of BTS looked at each other before standing up and walking towards the backstage.

* * *

“Yah! Pali-pali! Jungkookie you’re so slow!” Taehyung said as they ran through the craziness that was happening backstage, as Jimin was already far ahead of them. They only had twenty minutes before they had to be back at their seats, and they didn’t even ask for permission from their hyungs that they were going to talk to Gale.

Jimin stopped when he reached the door with a paper that read BLACKPINK taped on it. He was about to knock when the door opened and Jisoo walked out.

“Ah, Jisoo-ssi! Is Galie inside?” He asked. Jisoo looked at him like she couldn't believe that he was there.

When Jisoo didn’t reply, Jungkook spoke up.

“We’ve just missed her so much and we were wondering if we could visit her.” He told her. The girl’s features hardened as she looked at the boys in front of her.

“I don’t think she wants to see you.” She replied. “Any of you.”

“Huh?” Taehyung blurted. He didn’t understand what was going on. He was about to ask her when Lisa came running.

“Jisoo-eonni, our manager wants to talk to you.” She told her eonni.

“Thank you Lisa.” Jisoo said. She gave one last, hard look at the boys before walking away. “Excuse me.”

Lisa was now left with the maknae line, who were confused as hell. Why did Jisoo act so cold towards them? And why was Lisa avoiding their gaze?

“Excuse me also.” Lisa said after a while. She started to turn away, but Jungkook grabbed her arm.

“Wait, Lisa-ssi!” He pleaded. “Is Gale-noona mad at us or something?”

“Did we do something wrong?” Taehyung added. Lisa looked around, unsure if she should even be talking to these boys. Her eonnis, Jennie and Jisoo, told her and Rosé to stay away and not say anything if any of the members of BTS approached them, but looking at the three who were standing in front of her, Lisa could see that they were genuinely confused about the situation.

“You…don’t know?” She asked them. When the boys shook their heads, she took a deep breath, thinking about her next words carefully.

“Eonni’s going through a lot right now, partly because of you.” She explained. Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook’s eyes widened in shock.

“I don’t think she blames you, but the fact that you haven’t been there for her hurt her a lot.” The blonde finished.

“What do  you mean Lisa-ssi?” Taehyung demanded. “What happened?”

Because of the sudden rise in the volume of Taehyung’s voice, Lisa became flustered.

“I-I…”

“Please Lisa-yah, tell us.” Jimin pleaded. “We can’t bear to think that we’ve hurt her in any way.”

Lisa was still unsure of what to say next, when Jennie appeared beside her.

“How can you not know?” She asked them, an angry expression on her face. “It’s all over the internet. Yang-sajangnim even personally tried contacting your managers about the issue, but he never received a reply.”

“We really have no idea, Jennie-ssi.” Jimin explained. “We were really busy for our comeback and our managers-”

Suddenly, it all made sense to Jimin. As soon as the holidays were over and they had to get back to work, their managers confiscated their phones. They explained that it was so that the boys would be focused and that no one would accidentally leak information about their comeback, but this was the first time that they did this.

“Your managers what?” Jennie questioned.

“Our managers confiscated our phones.” Jungkook finished, realization dawning on him also.

"Jennie-ssi…” Jimin began. He needed to talk to Gale and find out what was happening. More importantly, he had to know if she was alright.

“Jennie-yah, what’s happening here?” A voice interrupted. The three boys turned their heads to the direction of the sound and saw that the dressing room door had cracked open, but they couldn’t see who was talking on the other side.

“Nothing Joohyuk-oppa.” Jennie replied. “Joohyuk”, obviously not believing Jennie, stepped out of the dressing room and closed the door behind him. When he turned around, the maknae line finally got a good look at him.

They were staring face to face with [Nam Joohyuk](https://i.imgur.com/J2rmQct.gifv), who was a famous YG actor and model. He was the male lead in the TV show “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bokjoo” which just finished airing two weeks ago. He glared at the three boys as he stood in front of them.

“You’re BTS.” He acknowledged. “What do you want?”

“Let us see Galie.” Taehyung begged, “Please.”

Jimin was eyeing the man who stood in front of them. What was he doing in BLACKPINK’s dressing room? Was he in there alone with Gale?

“Look, it would be best for everyone if you just leave right now.” He told them curtly, angering Jimin.

“Who are you to tell us to stay away from her?” He questioned. His voice was slowly rising in volume, attracting the attention of the other people who were backstage. “Are you her boyfriend?”

“Why you-” Joohyuk was about to respond, but was cut-off when the dressing room door opened again. This time, a small, frail voice called from the inside of the room.

“Joohyuk-oppa?”

The maknae line’s eyes widened as they recognized the voice-but barely. It sounded so different from the happy, bubbly one that they were used to. It didn’t even sound like it came from the same girl.

“Galie!” Jimin called.

“Noona!” Jungkook shouted as he moved closer to the door, but it was immediately shut from the other side before he could even touch the doorknob.

“We’re here Cheonsa! Please talk to us!” Taehyung pleaded. He leaned his forehead against the door, hoping that Gale would come out.

“The stage manager said that we should go into position- oh…” Rosé stopped in her tracks. She was asked by the stage manager to call her group but was startled by the scene in front of her. Her Jennie-eonni and Joohyuk-oppa looked furious, while Lisa was in the corner, trying to hold back tears. Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook looked the worst. They looked so distraught that Rosé almost felt bad for them. Almost.

“We’ll be right there Chaeng.” Her eonni told her. She nodded her head as she walked towards Lisa, who immediately hugged her as soon as she saw her.

“Excuse me.” Jennie told the three boys. By now Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook were feeling numb, so they quietly moved out of the way as Jennie and Joohyuk entered the dressing room. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity until the door opened again, with three people walking out. However, Joohyuk had his arm around Gale and was blocking her with his torso so they couldn’t see her face.

Lisa and Rosé followed their eonnis to the stage, where the deafening sounds of the crowd could be heard from the other side of the curtains, leaving the three boys alone in front of the dressing room, just sitting in the hallway.

Eventually, Taehyung stood up, pulling Jungkook and Jimin to their feet.

“Let’s go.” He told them as he began walking wordlessly back to their table. Jimin followed him quietly, a million thoughts running through his head.

Jungkook trailed behind, his head down and his eyebrows scrunched. What had just happened? Just when he thought that he could finally get closer to his noona, things went wrong.

He sighed in frustration and put his hands in his pockets. He was surprised when his hand brushed against something cool. He pulled it out and saw a shining, silver chain glisten against the lights, with a small pendant shaped like wings. It was supposed to be his[ Christmas gift](https://i.imgur.com/4t3z1D4.png) to his noona that he was going to give her today, but now he couldn’t even bear to look at it, so he just put it back in his pocket.

Luckily, when the three boys got back to their table, none of their hyungs had noticed that they had disappeared. They had returned just in time as the opening bars of “Playing With Fire” started to play.

Jimin’s eyes were glued to Gale the entire performance. Even though she sang, danced, and smiled like she was supposed to, there was something missing. The sparkle in her eyes was gone, and it hurt Jimin to see her like that. There were also slight differences in the way she moved, but only Jimin noticed it after dancing so closely with her for the past few weeks. 

What did he do? He wished he could make it right but he didn’t know and it was making him so frustrated.

The song ended and BLACKPINK bowed before leaving the stage. The hyungs gushed about how well the girls performed, but the maknae line was weirdly silent, which didn’t escape Namjoon’s attention.

“What’s the matter guys?” He asked them. The three boys looked at each other, silently agreeing to tell their leader what just happened.

“Hyung,” Taehyung began. “There’s something going on…”

* * *

Pali-pali - 빨리빨리 - Hurry


	17. (VLive) Jennie- A Message to Everyone

_2:36 AM_

_Jennie- a message to everyone has just started!_

_A girl appears on camera, obviously a bit tired and sleepy. Her brown hair is unstyled, her face free of makeup, and she’s wearing her pajamas. She’s sitting in her dorm’s living room, the only light coming from the lamp beside her and her phone._

“Hello everyone,” she greeted. She was speaking in a hushed voice, as to not wake up her members. “I want to talk to you guys about something serious. I know, this is a weird time for me to be doing this, but…it’s not letting me sleep.”

“First of all, I would like to say how thankful we are for all of you BLINKs who keep on supporting us. We appreciate you guys and we love you so much.” She said, although it was obvious that she was stalling.

“Everything went wrong three weeks ago, right after New Year’s, when these rumors started floating around. Ever since then a lot more people have been hating on Gale. I know, as idols this is something that we just have to deal with, but lately the attacks on her have been too much.” She ended in almost a whisper, then something flashed in her eyes. It looked like anger, which looked so foreign on the girl’s usually smiling, cute face.

“When the rumors started spreading around, they supposedly came from a “trusted source”- an insider from YG.” She explained. “If that were true, why doesn’t the person who started this come forward with evidence? Why would anyone believe this person anyway without any proof?” Then, her eyes turned soft again.

“Galie acts like there’s nothing wrong. She smiles all the time and jokes around, but I’m her best friend, and I know when something’s bothering her.” By now her voice was shaking, and it was obvious that she was trying not to cry. 

“I’ll address these three rumors now, so they can finally be put to rest. After this, please stop bashing my friend.” She said, “We kept quiet about this because we thought that everything would just die down, but apparently not.”

“The first rumor, Gale bullied Rosé and stole the main vocal position from her.” Jennie took a deep breath before continuing.

“This is stupid.” She told the camera directly. “Gale never bullied anyone, and she never stole anything from anyone either!”

She caught herself, immediately stopping before she woke up her members. When she composed herself, she continued.

“When BLACKPINK was formed, our positions weren’t clearly stated yet. We only finalized everything once Gale was added.” She explained. “And I’m not saying that Rosé isn’t talented because she is! But have you heard Gale sing? That kind of vocal control and technique could only come from years of training, which admittedly she has more of."

Jennie readjusted the cushion that she was leaning on, moving slightly to the left before leaning back again.

“The second one- Gale is from a rich family and only became an idol because of her father’s influence. Originally someone else was supposed to be the fifth member of BLACKPINK.

“Anyone who has seen or heard any of our performances would know that this is simply not true. Gale is both a talented singer and dancer, and she works really hard too. It’s her dedication and passion that got her to debut so soon.

“And so what if she came from a rich family? She became an idol because of her own merits.”

“BLACKPINK was originally supposed to be a four-member group, but even though our debut was only a year away, Yang-sajangnim still felt like we were missing something. He had thoughts about pushing back our debut, but then Gale came into the picture. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be BLACKPINK. There was no one else considered for this group but her.”

Jennie paused and looked up from the camera, thinking that she heard something move from somewhere in the room, but when she didn’t hear the sound again, she continued.

“And last but not the least, the third rumor, and the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Gale is dating Park Jimin from BTS but is flirting with the other member behind his back.”

“This rumor was started when the same person who started the others claimed that he or she saw the two of them in Lotte World together last Christmas.” Jennie said, the cold expression in her eyes returning.

“First of all, they’re not together. Galie isn’t dating anyone. They’re just friends. They _were_ friends. And she’s not flirting with anyone also! That’s just her personality! You may have noticed that she sometimes acts differently from the rest of us, but that’s because she’s been living in Korea the shortest! Even Lisa acts “more Korean” than her. She grew up in the US, so of course she’s a bit more Westernized in her actions, way of thinking, or even her sense of humor, but she tries so hard to be the person that everyone will like because she doesn’t want to disappoint BLINKs.

“Most of the hate have been coming from ARMYs. The same ARMYs who, only a few months ago, were encouraging Gale to collab with their oppas and be friends with them.” Jennie told her viewers. “What I just can’t seem to understand is why BTS hasn't released any statement about this, or have come to her defense.”

“Galie doesn’t deserve any of this. You guys have no idea how hard working and dedicated she is to BLACKPINK and to BLINKs.”

Jennie paused for a moment, reading through the comments. Most of the comments were people who were saying how sorry they felt for Gale, while there were some who were saying that she deserved what she got.

“Do you guys remember when our Weekly Idol episode aired? All of us messed up during the Random Play Dance segment- except Lisa, of course.” She smiled fondly, but the smile didn’t last long on her face.

“Yes, Gale made the most mistakes. Do you know why? She was sick during taping, but she didn’t tell anyone, not even me. The entire show she was acting like her happy self, being energetic and positive, but as soon as we finished taping, she fainted. She said that she didn’t tell anybody because she didn’t want them to postpone the taping. She didn’t want to disappoint BLINKs who were excited to see us on our first variety show.

“The comments were ruthless. They called her lazy for not practicing. They said that she didn’t deserve to be an idol because she was talentless. They said that Yang-sajangnim should remove her from BLACKPINK and put her back in training.

“The sad thing is that she agreed with them. She made herself believe that the reason why she didn’t do well on Weekly Idol was because she didn’t practice enough.

“Lately, she’s been…she’s been overworking herself. She’s been spending her days and nights either in the practice room, at the gym, or in the recording studio.” By now the tears were falling freely on her face. 

“I-I don’t even know if she goes to bed anymore. The only times I’ve seen her sleep these past couple of days is when traveling between schedules, or in the dressing room before a performance.” She stopped for a moment to breathe. She was about to continue when a comment caught her eye.

“You want proof?” She laughed bitterly. Jennie stood up from the couch and went outside the room. She walked through a dark hallway and went down a flight of stairs. The comments were telling her to be careful and to watch her step, but she didn’t read them. She didn’t care.

She stopped in front of a door. Their song, “Boombayah”, could be faintly heard in the background. Jennie peeked through the glass panel on the door. When she was sure that she wouldn’t be noticed, she showed the camera what she was seeing.

Inside the practice room was Gale. She was barefaced and was wearing loose clothes, her hair in a ponytail. She was dancing the choreography alone, making sure that every step was perfect.

“There. It’s almost three o’clock in the morning. We have to be awake in three hours. She’s been there since after dinner.” Jennie sighed. She went back to their living room and sat on the sofa.

“There’s no use in telling her to stop. Until she feels like she’s doing the best that she can again, she won’t stop.”

“A week ago, she went out for a walk. When she returned there was gum stuck to her hair. She just brushed it off and said that she might have just accidentally leaned on something. We later found out that someone pretended to be a fan and asked to take a picture with her, then stuck the gum in her hair. That person had the audacity to brag about it on social media.” Jennie almost spat. It made her furious that someone would do that to her best friend, who was always happy to meet fans and take pictures with them. She calmed herself down before continuing.

“She doesn’t deserve this. Galie is one of the nicest, sweetest, most hardworking people I know. BLACKPINK wouldn’t be BLACKPINK without her, so please, stop the hate.” She pleaded. She wanted to say more, but figured that she’s caused enough trouble.

“That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll be deleting this as soon as I go offline. Good night everyone.”

_Jennie- a message to everyone has just ended._

_Sorry, this video was deleted._


	18. (BTS Cam) Spring Day

BTS had just finished performing their entire set at the Gocheok Skydome in Seoul. They sang and danced through their old songs up to the new ones, with only one song left for the finale. The boys were currently backstage, having their make-up retouched and getting a drink of water before they had to go back on, but Jungkook’s mind was elsewhere.

He was playing with the necklace that he got for his noona, weaving it through his fingers. The past few months have been hard for him and his hyungs. They were currently in the middle of their world tour and had to act like nothing was wrong for the sake of ARMYs, but everything was going wrong.

They haven’t seen or heard from Gale since February, and it was now May. After the incident at the Seoul Music Awards, BTS confronted their managers to ask about what was happening, but they were just waved off. They asked for their phones back but they weren’t given to them.

 _“It’s for your own protection.”_ They said

 _Protection my ass._ Jungkook thought.

They couldn’t do anything about it. They were under constant surveillance so they couldn’t sneak away to check their social media, which was currently being managed by their managers. When they asked Bang-PDnim about it, he immediately dismissed them and told them he was busy, but the look of guilt that flashed on his face became obvious to all the members.

Until now, they still didn’t know what was happening.

“Jungkookie, come on.” Hoseok called the maknae, snapping him out of his thoughts. Jungkook put the necklace back in his pocket as he stood up and walked towards the rapper.

The intro to “Spring Day” began playing and the crowd cheered once more. The boys stepped out from backstage and began spreading themselves across the stage, since usually at this part they didn’t do the choreography anymore and instead interacted with ARMYs, or picked up the different gifts that were being thrown onstage.

Namjoon began his verse, rapping the lyrics as he had done plenty of times before, but his eyes were wandering to their maknaes, who looked like they didn’t want to be on stage at all. He walked over to Jin, directing his hyung’s attention to the three boys, expressing his concern for them. Jin tried to reassure Namjoon with a smile, but as soon as Jimin’s verse started, they knew that things were not going to end well.

_“Like a small piece_

_Of dust_

_That floats in the air”_

Jimin sang his part on cue, but it was obvious in the way that his voice was shaking that he was trying his hardest not to cry. Jungkook immediately approached his hyung, placing his hand on his shoulder. When Jimin looked up to meet Jungkook’s gaze, he saw that the maknae’s eyes were also brimmed with tears.

Jimin walked back to the end of the stage, trying to occupy himself with the ARMYs who were screaming for him to notice them, but a certain girl’s face kept appearing in his mind.

He wanted to see her again. He wanted to hold her and tell her that he was sorry, even if he didn’t know what happened. If it would make everything right again, he would say that he was sorry a million times over. He just wanted Gale back.

 _“Did you change?_  
Or did I change?  
I hate even this moment that is passing  
I guess we changed  
I guess that’s how everything is

 _Yeah I hate you_  
Although you left  
There hasn’t been a day that I have forgotten you  
Honestly, I miss you  
But now I’ll erase you  
Because that will hurt less than resenting you”

Hearing his Suga-hyung’s verse did it for Jimin. The tears were now freely falling down his face. His vision got so blurry that he sat down on the stage, burying his face in his hands. He wasn’t that concerned about ARMYs seeing him cry because he knew that they were just going to think that it was because he was happy from performing for them- and that was the case sometimes, but not now.

He felt a hand on his shoulder as he heard Taehyung sing his part from directly next to him. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves, looking up to see Jin standing in front him, offering him a hand.

_“You know it all_

_You’re my best friend_

_The morning will come again”_

Jimin took the hand that his hyung offered him, pulling himself up. Suddenly, someone slung their arm around his shoulder. Jimin looked to his right and saw Jungkook, also crying, but smiling at the same time, trying to be strong for his hyung.

_“Because no darkness,_

_No season_

_Can last forever”_

Jimin smiled back at his dongsaeng, inhaling deeply before trying his best to finish the song. He sang out his feelings, and sure enough, everyone who heard him singing that night could feel the longing in his voice.

_“Cherry blossoms are blooming_

_The winter is ending_

_I miss you_

_I miss you_

_If I wait a little longer_

_If I stay up a few more nights_

_I’ll go see you_

_I’ll go pick you up”_

When the song was over, the boys waved goodbye to the audience, bowed one last time, and headed backstage.

* * *

Taehyung couldn’t sleep.

During the ride back to the dorm, everyone in the car- even their managers- fell asleep from either physical or emotional exhaustion- except for him. That’s why he was able to steal back his phone from their manager’s bag.

He had many reasons to steal back his phone, the most important one being so that he could finally find out once and for all what had happened to Gale, but now that the phone was in his hands, he was scared to find out. He almost considered giving it back to their manager when his screen lit up.

_Jennie- a message to everyone has just started!_

Taehyung tapped on the notification immediately. The VLive App opened on his phone and showed him Jennie’s live broadcast. Even if it wasn’t Gale who was doing the VLive, he was still hoping to at least catch a glimpse of her walking in the background, or talking to Jennie from behind the camera- anything.

He was desperate.

His thoughts were pulled back to the video when he heard Jennie’s voice turn gravely serious.

 _“I’ll address these three rumors now, so they can finally be put to rest. After this, please stop bashing my friend.”_ She said, “ _We kept quiet about this because we thought that everything would just die down, but apparently not.”_

Taehyung hurriedly got up from his bed and knocked on Namjoon’s door, who opened it a few seconds later, looking tired as hell. He was about to scold Taehyung for waking him up at such an ungodly hour when his dongsaeng showed him his phone. The two of them went into the living room, Namjoon telling Taehyung to wake the others up as he synched the phone to the TV.

By the time the broadcast was over, there wasn’t a single dry eye in the room. Jimin stood up from the couch and ran into his room, coming out a few seconds later, fully dressed.

“Jiminie…” Jin called, his voice laced with concern. When the boy ignored him, he grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing Jimin to look him in the eyes.

“I-I have to go there hyung. I have to see her. I-I-” Jimin mumbled almost incoherently.

“Jiminie, it’s three o’ clock in the morning. If you want, all of us can go there first thing in the morning.” Namjoon comforted, but Jimin just shook his head.

“No! Hyung, we’ve already let this go on for so long.” He said with resolve. “She’s been going through this alone for the past five months. I-I have to be there for her hyung.”

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to convince him otherwise, Namjoon let out a sigh of defeat.

“Okay. I’ll go with you. Go start up the car while I get dressed.” He ordered his dongsaeng. Jimin immediately grabbed the car keys and dashed out of the room while Namjoon walked to his bedroom, leaving the other five members in the living room.

“We had no idea…Galie…” Hoseok muttered sadly.

“Hyung, I want to go too.” Taehyung said, standing up from his seat. “ I’ll go get dressed and-”

Yoongi grabbed his dongsaeng’s arm, pulling him back into the couch.

“No Tae, let Jimin and Namjoon handle this for now. We’ll go there in the morning.” He told him. Taehyung looked like he wanted to protest, but Jin gave him a stern look, so he just kept quiet.

“Everyone, go back to your rooms and go back to sleep.” Jin said. Everyone reluctantly stood up and walked back to their rooms except for Jungkook, who looked like he was still in deep thought.

“Kookie?” Jin called, “Are you okay?”

“What? Oh yeah hyung. I’ll go back to my room in a few minutes. I’m just thinking about some things.” He replied. Jin looked at him for a few seconds before leaving him alone in the dark.

* * *

Jimin looked at Namjoon for encouragement before he raised up his fist and knocked on BLACKPINK’s dorm room door. The door opened after a few seconds and they were greeted with Jennie’s confused face.

“What are you doing here?” She asked them. Knowing that Jimin was in a less than capable state to properly articulate himself, Namjoon was the one who answered.

“We saw your VLive Jennie-ssi.” He said, which took the girl by surprise. “We want to talk to Gale-ah and explain ourselves. We swear that we had no idea about what has been happening these past few months.”

Jennie scrutinized the pair, wanting to know if they were telling the truth. The leader looked calm and collected, but she could also see the guilt and sadness in his face.

When she turned her gaze to the singer next to him, she felt her heart break. All of the distrust and disdain that she had been feeling towards them had disappeared. There was no way that anyone could fake the emotions that Jimin was showing.

 _“_ She just came up from the practice room. Please let her rest.” Jennie told them. “Come back later.”

The two boys looked at each other and reluctantly nodded in agreement. They were just about to walk away when a voice called from the hallway.

“Jennini? Who are you…” Gale trailed off, walking into the living room. She was drying her hair with a towel, having just gotten out of the shower. She froze when she made eye contact with Jimin.

“Galie…” he breathed out. Jennie opened the door further, allowing the two boys to come in. Jimin entered the living room, stopping a few steps in front of the girl.

When he last saw her, she looked slightly unwell. But seeing her now without any make-up and up close, Jimin could clearly see the toll that the past few months have taken on Gale. Her skin was sickly pale, as opposed to the porcelain-like state it was in before. Her hair, which was now back to its original, shoulder length and was dyed a honey-blonde color, was limp, and the dark circles under her eyes were intense. She also lost a lot of weight, looking so thin that her shirt swallowed her up.

As Gale stared back at Jimin, she was also alarmed by her oppa’s appearance. Jimin also lost a lot of weight, and his eyes were swollen like he had been crying.

“Jimin-oppa,” She whispered, “What happened to you?”

She walked up to him, placing a hand on his cheeks.

“This is all my fault.” She said.

“No, Galie-” He objected, but the girl wasn’t hearing him.

“It’s because of the rumors, isn’t it? I’m sorry that you got affected by this too.”

“Gale-ah, stop it.”

“Don’t worry, Yang-sajangnim is fixing everything. He-”

“Cheon Gaeil!” Jimin shouted, grabbing the girl by her shoulders. Gale finally stopped, looking at her oppa with wide-eyes.

“None of this is your fault. Listen to me.” Jimin then proceeded to explain everything to her- how their phones were confiscated, how their managers have been keeping them in the dark, and how Bang-PDnim refused to talk about the issue. While this was happening, the other members of BLACKPINK had woken up and made their way into the living room to listen to the two boys.

“I’m so sorry. We never meant to let you go through this alone. We don’t know what Bang-PDnim or our managers have been doing, but we’ll talk to them as soon as possible about releasing a statement and finally clarifying the issue.” Namjoon said as soon as Jimin finished. Gale gave the both of them a small smile.

“Don’t say you’re sorry.” She told them. “I don’t blame you. I know that you would never hurt me intentionally like that.”

“Then why did you avoid us back at the Seoul Music Awards?” Jimin asked.

“I-” Gale swallowed and looked away, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

She then looked down at her feet, embarrassed about the way she acted.

“I look ugly.” She whispered.

Jimin placed her hand under Gale’s chin and gently lifted it up so that he could look directly into her eyes.

“You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” He said to her. At that moment, they both felt like they were the only two people in the world.

“Awww!” Lisa and Rosé cooed, unintentionally interrupting the moment. Jimin and Gale both snapped out of their reverie, pulling away from each other and looking away, trying to hide their flushed cheeks.

“We want to make it up to you.” Namjoon told Gale.

“There’s no need, oppa.”

“Galie,” Jimin said, taking her hands in his, “Come with us to L.A.”

“W-what?” Gale stuttered, not believing what she just heard. “I can’t. We’re preparing for our comeback next month.”

Gale looked at her members, who were all smiling at her. Jennie, whose eyes were brimmed with tears upon seeing her best friend look genuinely happy again for the first time in five months, urged her to go.

“We’ve already finished filming the MV. I’m sure Yang-sajangnim will allow you.”

“Yeah eonni, leave it to us.” Rose winked, which made Gale smile in appreciation. She looked at Namjoon, who was smiling encouragingly towards her, then back at Jimin.

_Ah, this boy. I can’t say no to him._

“Okay.”


End file.
